The earthy smell mixed with sweat was truly unpleasant, but the suddenly intensified heartbeat was quite pleasing to the ear.

Chang Yuncheng’s body suddenly stiffened, and his heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

She… she…

Had his actions still made things difficult for her?

Made her heart troubled… made her unable to let go and live her own life peacefully…

He should have helped her secretly, without letting her see, so she wouldn’t have to keep it in her heart.

But when he heard, when he saw that woman standing alone against a crowd of people, bearing their doubts and accusations, he had only one thought: stand in front of her, no matter what lay ahead!

In the end, it was still… an inability to think things through thoroughly…

Still… too foolish…

He had never been good at doing things, only causing more harm than good, especially when facing this woman.

“Yue… Yueniang… you… you should go about your business,” Chang Yuncheng said, placing two stiff fingers on Qi Yue’s shoulder, trying to push her away. “I, I’ll go sleep first.”

Qi Yue smiled with pursed lips and patted his waist.

“Sleep what sleep, eat first,” she said.

Chang Yuncheng made a sound of acknowledgment.

The woman pressed against his chest still didn’t move, continuing to hold him.

Chang Yuncheng felt another layer of sweat break out on his body—both dirt and sweat, making him feel sticky and uncomfortable.

It must be very dirty and smelly…

He hurriedly used his two fingers to push Qi Yue’s shoulder again.

“I, I’ll go… go wash up…” he stammered.

Qi Yue laughed heartily and released her hands, stepping back.

Chang Yuncheng immediately regretted it immensely—where had all those words come from? This woman wasn’t the type to be fastidious…

It was he who was being fastidious…

It was just a hug—it wouldn’t make him lose a piece of flesh.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Take care of yourself. I’m going to work,” Qi Yue smiled at him, patted his shoulder, and turned to walk into the courtyard.

“Come, come, prepare the carriage. I need to go to the laboratory.”

The woman’s clear voice echoed from the courtyard.

Chang Yuncheng wiped his hands on his sides and went inside.

Doctor Zhu carried a bowl of medicine into the sickroom.

“Here we go—drink this bowl of medicine and you can be discharged tomorrow,” he said loudly.

The patient was already sitting up in bed, looking much better, and smiled as he took the bowl.

“Doctor Zhu,” A’Ru came in carrying a tray. “You’re also a patient. We’ve told you not to do these things.”

Doctor Zhu smiled. In the hot weather, wearing mask, gloves, and hat was very uncomfortable, but his eyes were bright and alert.

“I’m already recovered,” he said. “Doctor Liu is too busy alone, and Lady Qi is in the laboratory. My skills are limited, but I can still help with dispensing medicine and taking pulses.”

“Doctor Zhu, you’re too modest,” A’Ru smiled, already setting down the tray. “Let me check the skin test.”

The patient extended his hand. A’Ru examined it carefully before nodding.

The patient promptly lay down on his stomach.

Doctor Zhu helped lift his clothes, exposing half his buttocks.

Disinfection, injection, and needle withdrawal were completed in one smooth motion.

During this process, no one felt shy, surprised, or considered it improper due to the male-female interaction—there was only some tension.

The tension of a needle piercing muscle.

“Is Lady Qi’s medicine still not working?” Doctor Zhu asked, helping the patient arrange his clothes.

A’Ru sighed.

“It’s difficult to extract to begin with, and the extracted medicine has low potency…” she said.

“This is still low?” Doctor Zhu stared in amazement. “Such a small amount can cure diarrhea in three days, and this is still low?”

A’Ru nodded.

“That’s what Lady Qi said. She said the potency is low, so large doses are needed. This medicine is already somewhat difficult to extract, so…” she said, picking up the tray.

Of course it was difficult—the most precious things in this world were always the hardest to obtain.

Doctor Zhu wasn’t surprised by this difficulty; he was surprised by the phrase “low potency.”

If such a miraculous medicine was still considered low potency, he wondered what kind of magic high-potency medicine would be like.

Previously, he had only heard that this Lady Qi was a divine physician with divine skills but hadn’t taken it seriously. Only after personal contact did he realize she truly deserved the title “divine.”

“It’s not miraculous at all…” Qi Yue said, her eyes still focused on the culture medium, speaking to Chang Yuncheng beside her. “What’s miraculous is nature…”

“What is nature?” Chang Yuncheng asked, looking at the bottles and jars in the room. Having been warned not to touch anything, he hadn’t moved from his spot since entering.

Qi Yue looked at the gradually solidifying seaweed and felt relieved.

“Nature is the heaven and earth where you and I live,” she turned to smile at him, but then frowned. “However, the most urgent matter now isn’t speeding up or increasing penicillin extraction.”

“Then what’s most urgent?” Chang Yuncheng asked, puzzled.

As long as there was medicine, wouldn’t everything be fine?

“I still suspect this is an infectious disease,” Qi Yue said with a frown, looking at the incubator with a grave expression. “Medicine is necessary, but what’s more necessary is finding out exactly what infectious disease this is and where the source of infection is. Otherwise, if the situation spreads and breaks out, this medicine won’t be nearly enough, and we can’t control the condition at its root.”

Chang Yuncheng nodded.

“It’s like catching the leader to catch the bandits, cutting grass must remove the roots,” he said.

Qi Yue sighed.

“Yes, but until now I still can’t determine what disease this is!” She slapped the table. “Something that could be done with a simple blood smear, yet I’m completely helpless…”

Knowing how to do something but being unable to do it—this was the most frustrating thing!

Chang Yuncheng left the room. Although they were short-staffed, Qi Yue still specifically assigned disciples to handle disinfection and recovery of various medical supplies.

Chang Yuncheng removed his isolation gown, disinfected and washed his hands before leaving the courtyard.

Standing at the entrance, a wave of stuffy hot air blew over, but it still made Chang Yuncheng feel incredibly cool.

He had only worn it for a while and felt this way—so that woman and those people were covered up almost all the time…

He looked back.

“Young Master…”

A soft female voice sounded.

To be precise, it was a child’s voice deliberately made sweet and soft, sounding quite strange.

How could there be a child here? Chang Yuncheng turned his head and saw a small girl peering out from behind a tree.

Seeing Chang Yuncheng look over, Wang Qiao’er straightened her clothes and slowly emerged.

“Lord,” she curtsied respectfully with serene expression and dignified bearing.

However, her still baby-fat cheeks and small child’s figure made this beauty appear more childlike than elegant.

“Where did you come from, child? Go away quickly,” Chang Yuncheng said gruffly.

As he spoke, he went over to pick up the child and walked outside.

Wang Qiao’er hadn’t expected this man to be so rude and discourteous.

Even if he wasn’t moved by her beauty, he should at least return the courtesy, shouldn’t he? How could he grab her like a chick! How could anyone treat a little beauty this way!

How ill-mannered!

“Hey, hey, men and women shouldn’t touch. Put me down,” Wang Qiao’er abandoned her ladylike demeanor and began hitting Chang Yuncheng’s arm. “This is my home!”

Her home? Chang Yuncheng paused, held the little girl up to look at her, and remembered.

“You. What are you doing here?” he asked in a low voice, with some nervousness, unconsciously looking around.

That man… that man must have come too…

If he came, could he drive him away? With what excuse? That this was a laboratory and couldn’t be approached?

That wouldn’t work either—last time he had not only approached but eaten here…

Seeing this man suddenly tense up with his expression changing unpredictably, Wang Qiao’er took the opportunity to break free, stepped back a few paces, and straightened her clothes and hair.

How annoying! She had specifically arranged a troublesome drooping hairstyle today, only to have this man mess it up.

“Lord,” she finished arranging her hair and saw the man still in a daze, so she called out. “I’m Wang Qiao’er.”

Chang Yuncheng came to his senses and made a sound of acknowledgment.

This child might possibly call that woman mother…

He… he should be nicer to her… to avoid being resented by this child… it would be terrible if she didn’t like Yueniang in the future…

“Miss Wang…” Chang Yuncheng began, his voice somewhat stiff. “…I was quite offensive…”

Wang Qiao’er smiled sweetly.

“Lord is too polite,” she said, returning the courtesy sideways. “How did Lord come to be here?”

Yes, this was someone else’s home—how did he come to be here?

Chang Yuncheng still couldn’t help looking around. What if that man asked the same question?

Back at Qianjin Hall in Qi Yue’s room, he had acted like the host, inviting him to sit, so now being in his home…

“I… came to take a look,” Chang Yuncheng squeezed out a smile for Wang Qiao’er.

“Then you’ve come at just the right time,” Wang Qiao’er’s eyes brightened. “This garden has a lake that’s quite elegant. Lord, shall I show you around?”

Before Chang Yuncheng could respond, another girl’s voice came.

“Uncle!”

What was happening today? Chang Yuncheng looked toward the voice and saw Yan’er rushing over, with maids and servants chasing closely behind.

Yan’er charged straight over and threw herself at Chang Yuncheng.

“Uncle, how did you come back?” she shouted joyfully.

Chang Yuncheng picked her up.

“How did you come here?” he asked.

“Not just me—my grandmother and everyone came too. Grandmother said there’s going to be a plague now, so everyone should come to Aunt’s place because it’s safest here. Our whole family moved here, several carriages full…” Yan’er said with a smile.

Chang Yuncheng was startled. Everyone moved here?

At this moment, the sounds of chaotic carriages and people could indeed be heard outside.

He couldn’t continue talking, put Yan’er down, and strode outside.

“Hey, hey, Lord, weren’t we going to see the lake…” Wang Qiao’er called out.

Chang Yuncheng had already disappeared.

She stamped her foot angrily and looked at Yan’er.

Yan’er was also looking at her.

Enemies meeting face to face, the two children glared at each other.

“My uncle is back. Don’t think about stealing my aunt,” Yan’er said with a snort.

Wang Qiao’er smiled at her.

“I’m not stealing your aunt anymore,” she said.

Yan’er was startled, somewhat suspicious.

“I’m going to steal your uncle,” Wang Qiao’er said with a pursed-lip smile.

The sounds of children fighting once again filled the courtyard.

Outside the isolation hospital, Qi Yue and Chang Yuncheng managed to persuade the Liu family members who were unloading belongings and preparing to move in. Only after much coaxing did Old Madam Liu withdraw her intention to stay.

“I told you not to make such a scene…” Old Master Liu muttered quietly in the carriage.

He hadn’t gotten out of the carriage from beginning to end.

“Are you more embarrassing than this old thing?” Old Madam Liu turned to shout at him. “If we talked about your embarrassing deeds, we couldn’t finish in days and nights! Do you want to talk about them?”

Old Master Liu quickly pulled the carriage curtain shut.

“It’s really not as safe as living in your own home. Besides, it hasn’t reached that serious a point yet,” Qi Yue said with a smile.

At this point, horse hooves sounded, and two carriages approached. Qi Yue looked over and saw Wang Qingchun lift the carriage curtain.

“Oh my, quite a few patients,” he said with a half-smile.

“Don’t worry, Minister Wang—we always keep a place for you whenever you come,” Qi Yue replied with an equally ambiguous smile.

Wang Qingchun cursed silently. He had accepted that he absolutely couldn’t win in verbal sparring against this woman.

But fortunately, this time he wasn’t here to spar with words—he was here to test luck.

He got out of the carriage, and the physicians from the other carriages also got out.

“What? Is the Minister moving in right now?” Qi Yue smiled. “That’s quite good. My five patients here have all recovered, so everyone can focus on caring for the Minister alone.”

Wang Qingchun gave a cold laugh.

“Is that so? That’s wonderful,” he said. “I came to see if they weren’t cured yet—if they weren’t, we’d treat them ourselves to save them from being frightened and worried here. Even healthy people would be scared sick.”

Qi Yue didn’t listen to his other nonsense but caught the phrase “we’d treat them ourselves,” which meant…

“That’s right, all the diarrhea cases in the city have been cured,” Wang Qingchun looked at her with a mocking smile. “Lady Qi, sorry to disappoint you—we didn’t die without you.”