Everyone stopped breathing for an instant, but Madam Xie, who had already stopped breathing, exhaled.

Qi Yue also resumed breathing in that moment.

Her already soaked clothes were drenched with sweat again.

She gasped as she withdrew the syringe, leaving the needle in Madam Xie’s throat. As Madam Xie breathed, the needle trembled, stimulating everyone’s vision.

She was momentarily breathless and couldn’t ask questions when someone grabbed her.

“How did you do that? How did you do that? What is this? How is she alive again?” Imperial Physician Zhou asked in rapid succession.

He had completely forgotten about proper conduct between men and women, grabbing Qi Yue’s arm and shouting excitedly.

This man’s excitement appeared as nervousness in Qi Yue’s eyes.

She noticed that this man was the first to rush to her for help, and now had the strongest reaction. Could this person be… Madam Xie’s father…

“This is cricothyrotomy, used for emergency laryngeal obstruction to help patients resume breathing,” Qi Yue hurriedly explained. After finishing, she realized these people couldn’t possibly know what cricothyrotomy meant, so she added, “Her throat was blocked, so I pierced through here to create an opening, allowing air to flow smoothly without going through the throat, mouth, or nasal cavity…”

Imperial Physician Zhou trembled with excitement.

“Just pierce it and it works?” he asked in a trembling voice.

“Of course not. You have to find the right position and depth—this isn’t random piercing,” Qi Yue said.

“Position…” Imperial Physician Zhou gripped Qi Yue’s hand, about to say more when Chang Yuncheng pushed him away.

Old Madam Xie finally trembled forward.

“Is she, is she, alive?” she asked tremblingly, looking at the needle stuck in Madam Xie’s throat, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

“This is only temporary relief,” Qi Yue said, looking at Chang Yuncheng. “How did this happen?”

Behind her mask, her eyes were bright and spirited, frank and clear, like the brightest stars in the night sky, instantly giving people peace in the darkness.

Chang Yuncheng looked at her.

“The Imperial Physician said Mother has a foreign object stuck in her throat, causing suffocation,” he said concisely and quickly. “Only by removing the foreign object can she be saved.”

Foreign object suffocation. Qi Yue understood, nodding as she looked at Madam Xie, then at Chang Yuncheng.

“You’re a good family member,” she nodded.

Calm, quick, no nonsense description of the condition, no questions, no unreasonable demands, no panic or grief.

He had always been like this. Qi Yue looked at him and smiled, giving him a thumbs up before turning to examine Madam Xie.

“Cut it open? Are you going to cut it open?”

Imperial Physician Zhou, who had been pushed back, rushed forward again, eyes shining as he shouted.

Who was this person?

Qi Yue finally looked at him, feeling that his expression was more excitement than concern.

The kind of excitement from watching something extraordinary…

“How long has it been stuck?” she asked.

“At least half a month. It should be something that swells easily when soaked, like peanuts, beans, or red dates,” Imperial Physician Zhou answered.

Qi Yue looked at him.

“This is the Imperial Physician I invited,” Chang Yuncheng introduced quietly.

Oh, Imperial Physician? A living Imperial Physician was like this? Cough, cough, an active Imperial Physician…

Qi Yue looked at Imperial Physician Zhou. His age was similar to Old Physician An, but his temperament seemed somewhat… unreliable…

“Quick, cut it! Can’t delay. Where to cut? The chest?” the unreliable Imperial Physician asked excitedly again. From his manner, if there had been a knife in front of him at that moment, he would have handed it to Qi Yue without hesitation.

“It’s not that simple…” Qi Yue frowned.

Before she could say more, the disciples began shouting.

“Master, what about this patient?” they asked urgently.

Right, there was still another patient.

Qi Yue walked over in a few steps.

Imperial Physician Zhou also went over.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, pointing at the injured person pierced through the chest by the bamboo pole, looking shocked. “Wow!”

He was so shocked he could only repeat this word, then rushed over like a wound-up toy train.

“Still alive, still alive, how is he still alive, what is this?” he asked in rapid succession, looking at the porcelain bottle held by a disciple plus pumpkin vine plus empty syringe needle…

However, he was a doctor after all and didn’t reach out to touch anything.

“He’s alive now, but if we don’t rescue him in time, he won’t live much longer,” Qi Yue said.

“Yueniang.” Old Madam Xie saw Qi Yue run away and seemed to lose her last straw, hurriedly calling out and rushing over to grab her. “Save Zhengmei, save Zhengmei!”

Qi Yue was pulled away again.

This, this situation, really…

The disciples were also dumbfounded.

Qi Yue was also anxious and furious.

How the hell was this so unlucky!

She sighed. Two equally critical patients were both in front of her, both needing emergency surgery, both at death’s door.

“Master, we can’t delay any longer!” Zhang Tong shouted.

Indeed, they couldn’t delay. Qi Yue naturally knew this too.

“Save Zhengmei first.” Old Madam Xie grabbed Qi Yue and pulled her toward this side.

This old lady was very strong, and Qi Yue was pulled stumbling over.

“Doctor!” A young woman suddenly rushed out from the crowd, falling to her knees with a thud. “Save my father, save my father.”

Seeing this young woman, the injured man’s wife, who had been held aside by several women, seemed to find her backbone and began crying loudly again.

“Doctor, we lowly people aren’t worth money, Doctor, we lowly people aren’t worth money, but when one person collapses, the whole family collapses. Please have mercy on our family with old people above and young children below. If Father is gone, there’s no way to go on…” the young girl cried, kowtowing repeatedly.

Seeing her like this, the woman cried even harder. The three children were completely at a loss, and seeing everyone crying, they also started crying. The old woman was already crying and stopped talking, just kowtowing to Qi Yue.

Here, children, old people, and women were crying and kowtowing, creating an extremely tragic scene that moved all the onlookers to tears.

Qi Yue looked at this side, unable to move her feet.

“They asked for the doctor first!” someone in the crowd shouted with righteous indignation.

When someone spoke up, more people began to speak.

“That’s right, Old Langtou’s family asked for the doctor first!”

“Why should you be seen first!”

At first, people were still afraid of the powerful and wealthy, but as more and more people spoke up, strength came in numbers, and the voices grew louder.

The atmosphere became even more tense.

Not only were there two critical patients, but it looked like there would be a riot.

The disciples were almost ready to faint. What was happening today… what was going on!

They all looked at Qi Yue.

What to do? Save which one?

To save one meant abandoning the other…

Master, what to do?

Qi Yue looked left and right. Here, Old Madam Xie held on tightly and wouldn’t let go. There, women, children, and old people kowtowed until their heads were bleeding. Here, Madam Xie’s breathing was labored and about to stop. There, the chest-pierced patient’s organs were failing.

Heaven, you really favor me! Even in modern times, these would be conditions that could keep an entire hospital busy, and they’re all dumped on me alone!

“Qi Yueniang, what do you want? I’ll give my life for Zhengmei, all right? Please save her. I’ve already watched one daughter die with my own eyes—I can’t watch another one die! I’ll give you whatever you want! Money, people! People!” Old Madam Xie shouted. At this point, she looked back in panic, saw Chang Yuncheng standing beside her, grabbed him and pushed him in front of Qi Yue. “Take him, he’s yours.”

Qi Yue felt like laughing, but this certainly wasn’t the time for laughter.

Chang Yuncheng, pushed in front of her, looked at her.

“Qi Yueniang,” he said word by word, “you know what you should do.”

Qi Yue looked at him. Yes, I know what I should do!

She nodded and raised both hands high.

“Now, there’s no time to transport the injured back to Qianjin Hall, so I’m going to perform two surgeries here,” she turned around and said loudly to the disciples of Qianjin Hall.

Here! Two surgeries!

The disciples were all stunned. In fact, they had been stunned for a while. Qi Yue’s words actually shocked them back to their senses.

Imperial Physician Zhou was also stunned, but his expression wasn’t shock—it was excitement!

“Good, good!” he shouted loudly.

This voice, filled with the joy of watching a spectacle, was particularly jarring in this scene.

“You.” Qi Yue looked at him and shouted.

Imperial Physician Zhou looked at her and also saw many angry glares from the scene, but he didn’t care at all.

“You go take care of this injured person now,” Qi Yue said to him, then ignored him. “How much disinfectant do we have left?”

At least say ‘please’! This was the first time since becoming a master that he had been ordered around like this.

Imperial Physician Zhou pursed his lips and turned to go to the man.

“Golden needles,” he said, extending his hand.

The disciples had already placed the injured person back on the ground and immediately handed him golden needles upon hearing this.

Here, Qi Yue asked her question, and immediately a disciple turned to check the emergency kit they had brought.

“Master, four bottles left!” the disciple shouted.

“Go find liquor! Find quicklime!” Qi Yue said.

The disciple who had just answered immediately responded, rushing toward the crowd and loudly asking for what Qi Yue needed.

“My house has some!” a man shouted.

Then other people also shouted.

The disciple followed them.

“Have your people return to Qianjin Hall in the city, quickly send people, medicine, and all supplies here,” Qi Yue shouted to Chang Yuncheng.

“I’ll go,” he said, turning to leave.

“Don’t go!” Qi Yue instinctively called out, reaching out to grab his arm.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t even ask questions and immediately stopped.

“Take my horse and go quickly,” he shouted to a servant.

The servant responded and ran out.

Qi Yue began directing the clearing of the area.

“Do we… do we have to go out too?” the patient’s family member, the young woman, asked.

“Yes, during surgery, family members shouldn’t be present because it will affect the surgery,” Qi Yue said.

The young woman’s gaze swept back and forth between the two injured people.

“Then, if you drive us out, how do we know whether you’re saving my father or someone else?” she said through gritted teeth.

Right, this comment made the villagers who were about to leave in confusion stop again.

Right, if everyone was driven out, wouldn’t you have the final say on everything?

Moreover…

Everyone’s gaze looked toward Old Madam Xie and the others who were also retreating.

Dressed luxuriously, even in such a tense moment, they still maintained extraordinary bearing, clearly from wealthy and powerful families.

Then they looked at this side—the man and his family, with broken house and tattered clothes, the kind of people who would be grateful just to have a broken mat to wrap their bodies when they died.

Heaven and earth, the difference between humans and insects.

Whose life was precious and whose was lowly could be seen at a glance.

Naturally, in this world, precious lives were valuable, and precious lives were not to be offended.

They didn’t believe that at this moment, facing these two lives with such contrasting circumstances, the lowly life would be treated equally!

“We’re not going out—we want to watch.”

The villagers all started shouting.

What the hell was this! Qi Yue was furious.

The more chaotic it got, the more chaotic it became! This was exactly the situation being described right now!