Feng Jiu’er told herself to remember that Mu Mu had only just woken up — she could not lose her temper with him. She must remember, absolutely must not lose her temper.

And so, she brought the spoon to her own lips and drank from it.

“It’s not particularly bitter — just a little. I can’t give you candied fruit to take with it right now. We have to wait until your stomach has adjusted a bit more.”

She scooped up another spoonful of medicine and brought it to his lips. “Can we proceed now? Drink your medicine.”

This time Mu Mu did not refuse again. He endured the bitterness and drank it down.

Once that was done, Jiu’er helped him lie back down: “You’ve only just woken up — you shouldn’t exert yourself too much yet. Rest a while longer. You can get out of bed a bit later.”

The wounds he had suffered were external — stab wounds and sword wounds. Though the surface had been healing over the past days, that was only the surface. The damage beneath had not fully mended.

If the internal wounds were torn open again, causing secondary trauma, it would be extremely serious.

“For now, you must not exert your body — especially not your inner energy. And ideally, try not to get angry either. Keep your mood pleasant. Your body will recover much faster that way.”

“What are you to me? Why do you treat me so well?”

Mu Mu lay in bed, his dark eyes fixed steadily on her face.

“We’re friends — the kind whose lives are bound together…”

“Are you my wife?”

Being bound together through life and death — that wasn’t something that could exist between a man and a woman unless she was his wife.

Feng Jiu’er was momentarily taken aback, then immediately shook her head. “No.”

“Then are you my betrothed — not yet wed?”

“No…”

“Then it would be best if you return to your own chambers.” Three watches of the night, alone together like this, a man and a woman — any reputation she had must already be in ruins.

“It isn’t like that — I’m a physician. I have to keep watch over you.” What was the matter with him? He had never been this way before. Now he was suddenly standing on ceremony and propriety? What medicine had he taken?

After such a serious illness — how was it possible his entire character had changed? Or was it that this had always been the true Mu Mu, and all those years of patience and detachment had been a deliberate mask, worn because Ye Luosha had kept him suppressed for too long?

“You are alone in my room with me in the dead of night — if you are not my wife, how will others regard you? Do you not care at all about your reputation?”

Mu Mu looked utterly unyielding — on a matter like this, he would not yield so much as an inch.

“Since you have already shared my chambers, when I have recovered, you shall marry me and become my wife.”

He spoke as though the matter were already decided — entirely his to declare. Feng Jiu’er looked at him in complete disbelief.

In this ancient era, were men and women truly so strict about these things? She felt she had not actually done anything improper — she was only treating his injuries and looking after him in the meantime.

“Mu Mu…”

“Are you tired?” Mu Mu’s tone suddenly softened entirely — in an instant, it became quite gentle.

“A little, but… no — that’s not what we should be discussing right now. Mu Mu, I am only a physician…”

“Since you’re tired, come and rest beside me for a while.” He made an effort to shift toward the inner side of the bed.

“Don’t move around.” Jiu’er stopped him immediately. He had only just woken up — at this point, moving carelessly could tear open his wounds.

“Then you come to the inner side.” After all, the custom was for the man to sleep on the outer side and the woman on the inner — it was only proper for a wife to sleep on the inside. And should anything happen, at least he would still be able to protect her.

His body felt a bit frail right now, but he would recover quickly — he was confident of that.

“I can’t. I still need to stay awake for the next hour and get you food.” Hadn’t he just said he was hungry? She was still keeping track of the time: “You sleep first. When the time comes, I’ll wake you.”

“Then I’ll keep you company and talk for a while.”

“…”

He really should go back to sleep. Otherwise, Jiu’er felt she was not quite able to hold her own against him.

Mu Mu after waking was willful, domineering, and stubborn — so very unlike the Mu Mu from before.

Though she felt this was probably his true nature, and she did not think there was anything wrong with it, could he at least give her a little time to adjust?

All of this happening so suddenly — it was somewhat difficult to take in.

In the latter half of that night, Mu Mu slept for a little over two hours. As for Feng Jiu’er — outwardly she appeared to be asleep, but in truth, she remained alert the entire time.

This was the very first night Mu Mu had woken up. Jiu’er did not dare allow herself to fully sleep, afraid that if she slipped under, some change might come over his condition.

And so it was that being a physician was truly a demanding life — before a patient awakened, one longed desperately for them to wake up; and once they did, one worried they were too fragile.

The human body was indeed an extraordinarily complex thing, with so many organs and so many nerves. Occasionally something would shift unexpectedly in ways no physician could anticipate.

In many cases, all one could do was treat and simultaneously study the patient’s body, observing every moment and remaining vigilant against any change.

And so even in the twenty-first century, with modern advanced medical equipment monitoring a patient’s every fluctuation around the clock, a physician still could not guarantee with a hundred percent certainty that a condition would not take an unexpected turn.

Medical accidents, in truth, very often could not be attributed to the physician’s fault — except for those cases that genuinely were caused by a physician’s error.

The vast majority of medical accidents were in fact due to sudden and unpredictable changes in a patient’s condition. Those physicians who found themselves blamed and even physically assaulted by a patient’s family after such accidents truly had suffered an injustice.

Only those who had been physicians themselves could understand — it was not nearly as simple as it seemed.

The next morning, the group prepared to set out on the road.

Feng Jiu’er and Long Eleven helped Mu Mu into the carriage together, and from there, Mu Mu remained inside the carriage and did not step out again.

From the night before and continuing through to now, Long Eleven had been by Jiu’er’s side the entire time helping to care for Mu Mu. By now, aside from Feng Jiu’er, Mu Mu had at least come to acknowledge Long Eleven.

As for everyone else — he truly was not willing to go near a single one of them.

Before they departed, Ye Luosha seized the moment when Feng Jiu’er came down to gather her things, hurrying over and asking anxiously: “What exactly is Mu Mu’s situation right now? Has he truly lost every memory he had before? When will he recover?”

Jiu’er did not dare waste time and could only reply while continuing to pack: “The human brain is the most complex organ in the entire body. With Mu Mu’s current condition, I genuinely don’t know whether this is temporary amnesia or something that may last a long while.”

So there was truly no way to promise when his memories might return — they could only wait, and observe as they waited.

She was not a specialist in brain medicine, and even brain specialists were powerless in cases like this.

“Are we simply to watch Mu Mu forget us forever? He doesn’t even know who he himself is.” Ye Luosha’s heart was filled with anguish. How could she stand by and watch her Mu Mu forget them all — forget everything?

“Senior, as I’ve already told you — the brain is enormously complex. I truly have no way of controlling what he thinks.”

Jiu’er was not being impatient. She understood perfectly well how much pain Ye Luosha was in. But she genuinely had nothing more to offer.

“Give him a little more time — perhaps the memories will return on their own. Right now, the most important thing is to get his body healthy again, isn’t it?”