Long Feiyan took her first step, and it appeared terribly difficult.

Qing Zhi and Qing Ye stood at her side, tense with worry. Seeing Long Feiyan’s figure sway, both moved to rush forward.

But their mistress had not permitted them to approach, so neither dared to step even half a pace closer.

At last, Long Feiyan gritted her teeth and took another step forward.

This time, though her complexion was still pale, her figure did not sway as badly as it had on that first step.

She had truly taken those steps. Qing Ye and Qing Zhi were at once exhilarated and tense, and more than anything else, deeply moved.

So many years their mistress had sat in that wheelchair, waiting for this very day!

It was unimaginable that Feng Jiu’er’s medical skill had truly reached such a staggering level. Something everyone had long since given up on — she had turned it into a miracle for them all.

Long Feiyan took another step, and the slight furrow between her brows gradually eased, a flash of light sweeping through the depths of her eyes.

After the third step, she did not continue forward but came to a stop, steadying her breathing.

Qing Ye and Qing Zhi were both anxious. Their mistress must be exhausted. Perhaps taking these steps was simply too strenuous.

They wanted to urge their mistress to stop, to take time to recuperate gradually from this point on — that would also lead to recovery, and there was no need to push so hard right away.

They were afraid that if their mistress strained herself too much, her legs might be injured again.

They wanted to ask Feng Jiu to persuade their mistress, but Feng Jiu was sitting quietly in her chair, casting a detached gaze at their mistress’s every movement, seemingly unconcerned in the least.

How could Feng Jiu be so composed? Regardless of what connection she did or did not know existed between herself and their mistress, their mistress was still a patient she had been treating, and yet she felt no worry at all about her patient being injured again?

Feng Jiu’er watched the veiled lady, and when she saw her stop to compose herself, far from showing any concern, a flash of admiration crossed her eyes.

This lady’s intelligence had surpassed Feng Jiu’er’s expectations. She had taken only three steps, yet she had already grown completely familiar with the legs that had been injured for so many years.

A person like this, though a woman, was truly a fearsome presence.

If she were an adversary, she would be the sort to leave people unable to eat in peace or sleep soundly at night.

Just as Qing Ye and Qing Zhi were hesitating over whether to urge their mistress to pause and rest, Long Feiyan suddenly raised one long leg and stepped forward.

A gust of wind swept past their ears, and the figure in white before their eyes moved like the wind itself — in an instant, she had vanished without a trace.

Feng Jiu’er’s eyes constricted sharply. Though it had been within her expectation that the veiled lady would recover, that the woman’s lightness skill would be of such an extraordinary level was entirely beyond her anticipation.

She had only just recovered, and her legs and feet were not yet fully nimble, and yet this lightness skill was already at a level that Feng Jiu’er could not hope to match.

If, in a few more days, once the veiled lady’s legs had completely healed, what heights would her lightness skill reach? Even Feng Jiu’er could not begin to guess.

It was entirely possible that, in lightness skill alone, even the Ninth Imperial Uncle and Mu Mu would be no match for her!

Terrifying. Truly terrifying.

In the nearly one year Feng Jiu’er had spent in this era, she had never encountered anyone whose lightness skill was so formidable. She was absolutely the first.

Qing Ye and Qing Zhi had already rushed out after her, leaving only Feng Jiu’er sitting alone in her chair, her hands and feet somewhat cold.

Though this lady clearly did not hold Emperor Qiwen in any regard, for the time being she and Emperor Qiwen still stood on the same side.

And Emperor Qiwen was, on the surface, on cordial terms with the Ninth Imperial Uncle — but in reality, they were political rivals.

Had she, without realizing it, cured someone who posed an absolute threat to the Ninth Imperial Uncle?

From outside came the sound of some commotion. Emperor Qiwen had been disturbed.

Tonight, due to the veiled lady suffering an acute onset of pain in her legs and needing Feng Jiu to be summoned, Emperor Qiwen had naturally come over to see what was happening.

He could not have expected that just then, he would witness with his own eyes the woman who should have been sitting in a wheelchair now standing in the center of the rear courtyard.

She had recovered. She had truly recovered.

After drinking another cup of tea, Feng Jiu’er set down the cup and stepped outside.

Raising her eyes, she saw the veiled lady standing beneath the moonlight, the breeze playing across her form, strands of hair dancing, the hems of her garments lifting — a picture of breathtaking beauty.

A figure like this, a grace like this — one would never imagine she was already past thirty.

Even as a woman herself, Feng Jiu’er could not help but feel a measure of admiration. If she too could carry such elegance and poise in her thirties, she would willingly shave a few years off her life!

What woman beneath the heavens does not love beauty?

Emperor Qiwen moved to approach, but Long Feiyan turned on her heel and withdrew back into the room.

Swift as lightning, Emperor Qiwen grasped at empty air, and could only stand facing the spot she had just occupied, breathing in the faint trace of her lingering scent drifting through the air, lost in a private daze.

Feng Jiu’er finally understood why Emperor Qiwen could not get this lady out of his mind.

It was likely that what cannot be obtained is what seems most precious. Throughout all these years, Emperor Qiwen had probably never managed to gain even a single advantage over this lady.

If she wanted to leave the palace, it likely would not be any great difficulty. Qing Ye at her side was a consummate master — Feng Jiu’er felt herself clearly outmatched. And as for Qing Zhi, perhaps she was a slight step behind Qing Ye, but she was likely not far behind.

Most critically, even with legs that could not move, the veiled lady’s inner power exceeded that of Qing Ye and Qing Zhi, reaching a depth that was simply unfathomable.

Such a person — even if Emperor Qiwen dispatched a great many palace guards, it was far from certain that he could keep her here.

He did not dare take the risk. And so for all these years, he had not dared to observe her too closely, nor draw too near, for fear of driving her away.

As long as she remained here, even to observe from a distance was at least something to hold on to.

Feng Jiu’er suddenly felt the faintest flicker of sympathy for this man — though of course, only the faintest flicker.

He was the ruler of a nation, with a harem full of women awaiting his favor. It was simply a pity he did not know how to cherish what he had.

Men — once something is within their grasp, they feel it has lost its flavor. So what was there to feel sorry for?

She turned and went back inside.

The veiled lady was already seated on the bed. The wheelchair had been reduced to splinters by her own hand, with Qing Ye and Qing Zhi standing at her side.

Looking at the destroyed wheelchair, Feng Jiu’er suddenly thought of Feng Yinan — after he had recovered as well, he had regarded that wheelchair with the same deep disdain.

It was only a pity that Yinan’s recovery had not lasted even a single night.

“Feng Jiu, you have healed my legs. Whatever you wish for, name it. If it is within my ability, I will not hesitate to give it.”

Feng Jiu did not reply immediately, and of course, she was not magnanimous enough to refuse outright on the spot either.

She thought for a moment, then said, “If My Lady truly wishes to thank me, then please give me twenty thousand taels of gold.”

Qing Ye and Qing Zhi were taken aback, momentarily unable to process what they had heard.

Twenty thousand taels of gold as treatment fees was, naturally, far too much and far too greedy.

But set against the recovery of their mistress’s legs, what were a mere twenty thousand taels of gold?

Yet they had not expected Feng Jiu would ask for money. Did she not feel that there were things of far greater value to be had from a woman who even Emperor Qiwen had to accommodate?

Power, for instance?

Feng Jiu wanted only money. What was she thinking?