The two of them sat in silence, each drinking their wine, watching the fragmented reflections of the street lights shimmering on the river.

Drinking this way, the pot of wine was quickly emptied.

“Lady Qi has quite the capacity for drink,” Wang Qian turned his head to glance at her and said with a smile.

“Just average,” Qi Yue smiled and replied.

“However, I could only offer this much tonight. In the future…” Wang Qian continued, “If Lady Qi has the inclination in the future, I would be honored to accompany you again.”

Qi Yue smiled and said that would be good.

The two fell silent once more.

Qi Yue sighed and pointed across the river with the hand holding the wine pot.

“Actually, you see,” she said, “life everywhere is quite real.”

Wang Qian looked over. Across the river was a row of shops, mostly wine houses and tea houses. This was their busiest time, with serving girls moving among them like colorful butterflies, their clear calls mixing with the silk and bamboo music from the flower boats on the river.

“Naturally, live in the present moment,” he said.

Qi Yue nodded.

“Yes, live in the present moment,” she said, sighing again.

“Of course, anything is easier said than done. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many people seeking cultivation,” Wang Qian added.

Qi Yue laughed heartily.

“Exactly,” she laughed, placing the wine pot beside her. “Everyone is cultivating, slowly cultivating.”

As she spoke, she took out a small pouch from her bosom.

This contained the thermometer fragments that A’Ru had cleaned up and collected.

She held it in her hands and looked at it.

Wang Qian turned his head to look as well.

Qi Yue raised her hand and threw the small sachet into the river.

In the night, not even a ripple could be seen as it disappeared into the water.

“Thank you for the wine. Go back and tell your daughter not to worry – what belongs to her will never escape her,” Qi Yue smiled as she supported herself to stand up.

Wang Qian turned his face slightly and smiled.

“However, what doesn’t belong to her will escape no matter what she does,” she continued with a smile. “You don’t need to say that part – she’ll understand when she grows up. Oh, and don’t worry, these things are all external possessions to me. If Old Master Wang really wants to buy peace of mind, then use external possessions to buy it.”

Wang Qian stood up to see her off. Qi Yue waved her hand and walked away gracefully, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

Wang Qian stood motionless, turning his head to silently watch the river scenery for a while.

“Life everywhere is quite real?” he murmured to himself. “Then, where is life not real?”

Deep into the night, the two workers in the temporary quarters still hadn’t slept, staring at each other over a small slip of paper.

“Write it or not?” one of them said. “You decide quickly.”

“How about we write ‘Lady lost thermometer, in bad mood, drinking at night with someone’?” the other said in a low voice. “Without saying who that person was?”

That made sense. This person could be a man or a woman – let the Prince think whatever he wanted.

“Must not deceive,” the first one shook his head and finally made up his mind. “Let’s tell the truth.”

A carrier pigeon took flight with a flutter of wings and disappeared into the night.

The next day, Old Master Wang indeed came. Without saying a word, he pushed over a bank note.

“Wow,” Qi Yue glanced at it and exclaimed in amazement. “Not bad, not bad. This deal is done.”

Old Master Wang couldn’t help but laugh.

“Lady Qi, I’m truly sorry,” he said formally while bowing.

“Forget it, it’s nothing,” Qi Yue smiled and returned the courtesy.

“Master!” a disciple rushed over urgently. “Emergency patient!”

Qi Yue immediately responded loudly.

“Master Wang, forgive me for not being able to keep you company,” she said.

“You go quickly,” Wang Tongye stepped aside, watching Qi Yue hurry away.

The emergency room in the hall was busy but orderly – treating shock, stopping bleeding, providing artificial oxygen, cleaning and disinfecting wounds. Another disciple held a small booklet, explaining something to the anxious family members.

“…abdominal injury, preparing for exploratory laparotomy…” Qi Yue said.

The disciples responded in unison and immediately rushed to the back.

“…I am Dr. Qi Yue,” Qi Yue stood before the family members with her blood-stained hands raised. “Your…”

She didn’t know how to address them…

“Son, son,” the two elderly people said hurriedly.

“Your son has closed abdominal trauma… meaning after being gored by the bull…” Qi Yue explained in words they could understand, pressing her own abdomen to demonstrate. “…just now the puncture revealed internal bleeding, but because we can’t see exactly where the injury is, I need to open the abdomen to explore… Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The two elderly people were obviously from the countryside, immersed in grief over their relative’s injury, their spirits dazed.

Qi Yue was about to continue explaining.

“We know, we know,” the man spoke up. “Lady Qi, rest assured, we know, we… we saw this…”

He took out a crumpled paper from his bosom – it was one of the Qianjin Hall advertisements that Hu San had distributed.

Qi Yue took a deep breath.

“The surgery carries certain risks. You must be mentally prepared,” she said.

The disciple waiting nearby immediately brought over the surgical consent form and read each clause to them.

“Lady Qi, we understand. We won’t be like those people. Lady Qi, since you are a doctor, you must be one who saves lives and heals the wounded. If we don’t trust you, who can we trust?” the old man said, biting his finger to press a fingerprint.

Qi Yue nodded and bowed deeply to them.

“Thank you for trusting me,” she said loudly.

The old couple became even more flustered. When had they ever had a doctor thank them for seeking medical treatment?

This world had truly changed…

“Prepare for surgery,” Qi Yue said. “Go call for Xiao Guan.”

Wang Tongye breathed a sigh of relief seeing this and stepped out. Compared to the heaviness when he arrived, his steps were now light.

Returning home, Old Lady Wang was leading her daughters-in-law and maids in turning the house upside down looking for hairpins.

Various hairpins were already spread across a table.

“Old man, you’ve come at the right time. We’ve never seen it – what kind of hairpin was it exactly?” Old Lady Wang asked urgently.

“What hairpin,” Wang Tongye said. “How ignorant. If it were really a hairpin, would Lady Qi care so much about it?”

“Didn’t you say it was one of a kind in the world?” Old Lady Wang said. “Naturally it would be precious.”

“That was Lady Qi’s medical instrument. I asked Dr. Liu – Lady Qi’s master left her many rare treasures, but by now, they’ve almost all been used up,” Wang Tongye said with a sigh. “There was a medicine that with just a tiny bit, could make a person feel no pain, allowing cutting and hammering at will…”

Everyone in the room listened with wide eyes.

“…and there was a paper that if you dropped a person’s blood on it, it could find someone with the same blood type, so that when someone lost too much blood and wouldn’t die, you could just borrow some from that person…”

Wang Tongye spoke with bright eyes.

“Unfortunately, all these things have been used up,” he sighed again. “And do you know where all these things were used?”

“Such rare and precious items would naturally be used for rare and precious occasions or people,” Old Lady Wang said.

If these were taken out, wouldn’t they be worth mountains of gold and silver?

“One was used on a servant’s brother, one on a servant, one on a small guard…” Wang Tongye said.

Servants? Guards? What were these people’s lives worth!

Such unique treasures in the world were used on them?

“So, do you think Lady Qi would care?” Wang Tongye asked.

The people in the room nodded, then shook their heads.

“What she cares about isn’t that the thing is gone, but how it was lost,” Wang Tongye said with feeling. “Making the best use of things is what makes them precious.”

Everyone suddenly understood and nodded.

Old Lady Wang waved her hand, and all the women in the room quickly withdrew.

“Call Yixiu here,” Wang Tongye called out.

Wang Qian came over quickly and bowed to Wang Tongye.

Wang Tongye stared at him, seemingly angry.

“Your daughter broke someone else’s property,” he began. “What do you think should be done?”

What should be done? Haven’t you already taken care of it?

Wang Qian smiled slightly and bowed.

“Grandfather, as the saying goes, a child’s debt should be repaid by the father,” he said. “So naturally, I should be the one to repay it.”

Wang Tongye snorted.

“Repay, repay – how will you repay it?” he said irritably. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. How had he been deceived by Qiao’er’s seemingly obedient appearance and soft pleading, bringing about such trouble! “A child’s faults reflect the father’s teaching” – he had told him to properly educate his daughter, but he just wouldn’t listen. How had he raised such a two-faced little troublemaker!

Wang Qian smiled and bowed again.

“Yes, it’s this grandson’s fault,” he said, straightening up. “Grandfather has already repaid with external possessions, so I can only repay with my person.”

What?

Wang Tongye was stunned for a moment, then understood, looking Wang Qian up and down.

Oh…

Speaking so righteously, when really he had just taken a fancy to her! Such pretense! Really good at pretending! No wonder he could raise such a pretentious little troublemaker like Qiao’er!

Without saying a word, making his grandfather provide the dowry, while putting on an act of helplessly bearing the burden…

“Oh,” Wang Tongye shook his clothes and leaned back in his chair, looking comfortable. “Yixiu, my repayment – Lady Qi naturally accepted it. This is my face. But your repayment, hehe…”

Lady Qi – that’s Lady Qi! Did he think she was one of those sheltered young ladies who would blush at the sight of a man and start having wild thoughts after a few glances? Did he think that with just a matchmaker’s visit and a display of family background, one could prepare for marriage?

This debt – he was going to have to pay dearly…

“Sigh,” Wang Tongye shook his head and sighed. “Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. I’m already a great-grandfather – I won’t interfere, won’t interfere.”

Wasn’t it you, old man, who started interfering? Now saying you won’t interfere – you just want to sit back and watch your grandson’s excitement.

Wang Qian smiled and bowed in acknowledgment, saying nothing.

Compared to Wang Tongye’s joyful mood, Marquis Dingxi and Madam Xie at the Marquis mansion were extremely depressed.

Under Madam Xie’s repeated urgings and even blocking her door, Madam Yang finally brought back a reply from the Rao family in Shandong.

“…because they waited too long without word, the Rao family daughter has already been betrothed to another,” she said with some apology. “I can only thank Madam for her kind intentions.”

What?

Betrothed to another?

“What do you mean ‘waited too long’! Everything was agreed upon! Don’t they know? How can they say they ‘waited too long’?” Madam Xie flew into a rage.

Madam Yang was very surprised to hear this.

“Already agreed upon?” she asked in amazement. “Madam, you mustn’t speak carelessly. Your household still had a legitimate wife at the time – how could you discuss marriage with another family? That would be the grave crime of divorcing a wife to remarry!”

Madam Xie’s clenched hands trembled uncontrollably.

Now they would mention this? Now they all knew to mention this? When they were pushing forward back then – the old ones putting on airs, demanding face and favors, the young ones sending shoe patterns and greetings – they didn’t know it was the grave crime of divorcing a wife to remarry?

A bunch of bastards! Bastards!