It was already past midnight, yet Qianjin Hall was as bright as day.

Qi Yue still lay on the bed with her eyes closed, the murmuring from before seeming like an illusion.

“I really saw it!” A’Ru cried, not knowing whether she was trying to convince the crowd or herself. “My Lord, you heard it too, didn’t you? The Young Mistress was calling your name.”

Chang Yuncheng still knelt half-beside the bed, tightly gripping Qi Yue’s hand. He could no longer speak, only staring fixedly at the woman who remained in deep sleep.

She was calling him, she was calling him. He couldn’t have heard wrong.

His mind only repeated this sentence.

At this moment, she was calling his name…

If, if he hadn’t left, how could today’s events have happened…

But there were never any “ifs” in this world.

He had said that when others bullied her, he would be the first to come help her…

But he had never done it. All he had ever done was just talk.

He couldn’t do anything, couldn’t give her anything.

Chang Yuncheng buried his head beside Qi Yue again, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“Master is temporarily out of danger,” Old Physician An finally finished his examination.

With these words, even the man in the adjacent bed felt his heart finally drop from his throat, though his heart still hung in his throat – a reaction he’d had since learning his chest had been split open and a rib removed.

The others in the room also couldn’t help but let out suppressed cheers of joy.

A’Ru and A’Hao cried as they embraced each other.

“Then why isn’t she awake yet?” Liu Pucheng, being a physician, could still maintain his composure to ask.

Temporarily out of danger – but what about later?

When Liu Pucheng asked this question, the happy people immediately became tense again, looking toward Old Physician An.

A’Ru and A’Hao held each other, tears flowing, not daring to move.

“Let’s give her medicine first,” Old Physician An finally said.

A spouted pot was brought over, and Liu Pucheng personally administered the medicine. Whether it was discomfort from force-feeding or the medicine being too bitter, the unconscious Qi Yue frowned and her head moved slightly.

“There’s a reaction! Really a reaction!” Hu San, who was standing close, suddenly cried out, pointing at Qi Yue on the bed, then burst into loud sobs.

“Master, I’ve wronged you! I’m useless!” He slapped himself repeatedly. “I, Hu San, was never really a person to begin with. I pestered and bothered you to call me master, but how could I be worthy? I knew I wasn’t worthy, yet you really treated me as a disciple, closer than a real brother, closer than a real son…”

These words sounded amusing, but at this moment, no one laughed.

“That money you gave me whenever I asked, however much I wanted, you gave it. Those blueprints, those blueprints that even amazed craftsmen – Master, even a real son wouldn’t be treated so kindly! I’m useless, I can’t do anything. I only cause trouble and create chaos. I’m mud that can’t stick to the wall. I fainted during surgery, I fainted when you were beaten. What am I living for? What use is my life!” Hu San beat his chest and stomped his feet, nearly mad with grief.

Liu Pucheng shook his head and signaled two disciples to carry him out.

Old Physician An said the patient needed quiet rest, so everyone reluctantly withdrew.

Throughout all this, Chang Yuncheng remained kneeling by the bed, motionless.

“My Lord, please go rest. Haven’t you been traveling for days…” A’Ru hesitated before saying.

Chang Yuncheng paid no attention.

A’Hao wiped her tears and brought a cup of water.

“My Lord, at least drink some water…” she said chokingly. “If you’re like this, the Young Mistress will feel uneasy knowing about it.”

Making her uneasy…

He could give her nothing, hadn’t even said a kind word to her. It was always her who accommodated him, coaxed him…

Making her uneasy – are you, Chang Yuncheng, even human…

Chang Yuncheng raised his head, took the teacup, and drank it in one gulp.

“Food,” his hoarse throat finally managed to utter.

A’Ru quickly nodded.

“Go quickly,” she said.

A’Hao hurried off and soon returned with food. Chang Yuncheng wolfed it down completely.

A’Ru and A’Hao watched and began crying again.

How many days had he been hungry? From the capital to here, had he not stopped along the way, not eating, not drinking, not sleeping…

After eating, Chang Yuncheng seemed more alert.

“You should go rest. I’ll watch over her,” Chang Yuncheng said.

A’Ru and A’Hao shook their heads.

“Go on. Only when you’re rested can you better watch over and protect her. She can only depend on you now,” Chang Yuncheng said hoarsely. “Only you can truly take care of her.”

A’Ru lowered her head to wipe tears, responded yes, then went to check on the patient over there. Following requirements, she took his temperature, checked his blood pressure, and used a stethoscope to listen to his heart and lungs.

The patient looked at A’Ru, and this burly man couldn’t help but redden around the eyes.

“Miss, you’re a good person,” he said.

A’Ru was startled by his words.

“I’ve wronged you all, yet you still take such care of me. Your mistress is in such critical condition, yet you still don’t forget to do these things…” the patient said hoarsely, pointing at the blood pressure monitor and stethoscope in A’Ru’s hands.

A’Ru looked down at the items in her hands.

“If you say I’m working hard…”

He said this and smiled.

“I’m working hard – what am I working hard for? If I can work hard, it’s what I deserve, it’s my honor,” he said, burying his head in the bed again. “Yueniang, I don’t dare to think…”

The patient beside him had never wished so much to be in pain – it would be better to faint from pain.

He was sad, upset, and ashamed, wishing he could die, yet he couldn’t die.

He finally couldn’t help but sob.

“My Lord, it’s I who harmed your wife. My life is worthless, my death wouldn’t be regrettable,” he cried.

Chang Yuncheng suddenly stood up, took several steps to his side, looming over the man on the bed like a mountain of oppressive force.

The man had been through violence and seen all kinds of situations, but in front of this man, he felt momentarily suffocated.

“Your life used to be worthless, but from now on, your life was given by her, so it’s very valuable!” Chang Yuncheng said hoarsely. “If you dare die on me, Guan Qingniu, all one hundred and thirty-six people in your Yanyun Stronghold will accompany you in death.”

The man’s face turned livid.

“You, how do you know I…” he stammered.

“I, Chang Yuncheng, have never kept my word to this woman. I’ve been untrustworthy in front of her,” Chang Yuncheng didn’t answer his question but pointed at Qi Yue. “But I, Chang Yuncheng, consider myself someone who keeps his word to others – once spoken, it’s like four horses can’t catch up, what I say I will do!”

Guan Qingniu said nothing more, only looked at Chang Yuncheng.

“So you live for me. If you die, your people won’t survive either,” Chang Yuncheng said again. After speaking, he no longer looked at him. Because he had been kneeling for too long, his legs were stiff. He slowly moved back to Qi Yue’s side step by step and knelt down again, gripping Qi Yue’s hand tightly.

“Yueniang,” he leaned close to Qi Yue’s face, carefully touching it. “Yueniang.”

But he said nothing more in the end, only repeated this name, over and over.

Guan Qingniu couldn’t help but shed tears, feeling that this man’s calling of that name was the most heart-wrenching thing he’d ever heard. He remembered long ago, watching his own woman and the child in her belly die under bandits’ hooves, that feeling of despair and helplessness, that sense of emptiness in the world, being alone with nowhere to turn, wanting to grasp something but unable to grasp anything…

When dawn broke dimly, Old Physician An came in again for acupuncture. Shortly after this treatment, Qi Yue’s breathing could be felt to have stabilized considerably.

“My Lord, you can rest assured,” Old Physician An said after checking her pulse and carefully examining Qi Yue’s eyes.

At these words, Chang Yuncheng swayed slightly, his free hand supporting himself on the bed.

“When will Miss Qi wake up?” Liu Pucheng asked.

He was a physician, but at this moment he asked questions like an ignorant family member, showing that the saying “doctors can’t treat themselves” was true.

Old Physician An signaled for the spouted pot to administer medicine.

A’Ru personally fed Qi Yue the medicine.

“I estimate around tonight,” Old Physician An finally said.

Tonight…

Chang Yuncheng looked at the quietly sleeping woman’s face, feeling his heart pound so hard he might suffocate.

She would see him…

Let her see him…

What face did he have to let her see him…

Learning this news, everyone came. Seeing Chang Yuncheng, Chang Chunlan and the Second Madam were both shocked.

“Why did you come back?” they exclaimed.

The Second Madam, exhausted from worry, looked completely different and could no longer walk, being carried in a soft sedan chair. She now sat up in shock from the chair.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t answer.

“Please, don’t tell her,” he said, bowing to both of them. “Don’t tell anyone.”

Chang Chunlan looked puzzled, while the Second Madam sighed in relief and slowly leaned back in the soft sedan chair.

“That you can do this shows you truly care for Yueniang,” she said slowly.

Night finally came amid everyone’s wish to pull the moon and shake the hourglass to hurry time. With Old Physician An’s acupuncture treatment again, Qi Yue moved slightly, her eyelids fluttering.

She was about to wake up. Everyone couldn’t help but crowd forward, but at this moment, Chang Yuncheng, who had been tightly gripping Qi Yue’s hand, let go and slowly backed away.

When his hand released, Qi Yue’s hand began to move, seeming to want to grasp something but unable to, and then her eyes opened.

“Mistress,” A’Ru couldn’t help but rush over, kneeling by the bed and crying.

“Yueniang,” the Second Madam also stood up without help, calling out in a trembling voice.

Qi Yue’s gaze moved, looking confusedly at the faces crowding around her.

“…What…happened to me?” she moved her lips and made a sound.

The room immediately filled with both crying and laughter.

Chang Yuncheng had already moved outside the door, hidden in the night shadows behind the window, watching inside. The crowd blocked his view so he could no longer see the woman’s face, but he still stared intently.

“My Lord, we can’t delay any longer. Leaving without permission and not returning on time is the crime of deceiving the sovereign,” a guard said quietly behind him.

Chang Yuncheng closed his eyes and suddenly turned around.

“You four stay behind,” he said, then strode away with large steps, walking step by step into the night.