Hong Niang rushed over anxiously. As soon as she entered the hall, she saw Wen Cong sitting inside.

The moment she appeared, Wen Cong looked her up and down completely. At her advanced age, she was dressed gaudily, and her body carried a scent of rouge that made one’s nose sting as soon as she entered.

This type of person was exactly what Wen Cong disliked most.

However, Hong Niang couldn’t care less who he was. The first thing she said was, “You… can you really save Huazheng?”

Her heart couldn’t help but feel somewhat anxious.

Wen Cong suppressed the discomfort in his eyes, stood up, and asked, “Where is she?”

“In her room.”

“Take me there.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Come with me.”

Hong Niang immediately led him there. Along the way, Hong Niang clutched the handkerchief in her hand and asked, “That… may I ask who you are?”

Wen Cong glanced at her. “My surname is Wen.”

“So you’re Physician Wen.” Hong Niang actually didn’t recognize him. She asked again, “Was it Miss Ji who asked Physician Wen to come?”

Speaking of this, when Wen Cong thought about how Ji Yunshu had used her own illness as an exchange to get him to save Huazheng, he sighed for a moment. “It’s true that Miss Ji asked me to come save someone. However… what is your relationship with her? Why would she help you?”

Earlier, Ji Yunshu had only said they met by chance. Although he hadn’t asked much at the time, he still felt there was something suspicious about it.

Hong Niang naturally couldn’t say that she had captured Ji Yunshu to have someone replace her daughter, and that the other party, being kind-hearted, had even agreed to find a divine physician to save Huazheng. She felt truly ashamed, but was too embarrassed to say it due to her pride.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Miss Ji is a good person, which is why she agreed to help.”

Wen Cong wasn’t foolish and naturally didn’t believe it.

Hong Niang clasped her hands tightly, extremely nervous.

When they arrived outside Huazheng’s room and went inside, they immediately smelled an extremely strong medicinal odor.

It was the same scene Ji Yunshu had seen that night—outside were all kinds of medicine jars and stoves, like a medical clinic.

“Physician Wen, my daughter is inside.” Hong Niang led him into a small chamber inside.

Pushing the door open, they saw Huazheng sleeping on the bed, her complexion deathly pale without a trace of blood. Even so, her features were delicate and her facial features refined. No wonder such a beauty could win the title of number one courtesan in those years and captivate countless men.

The moment Wen Cong saw her, he froze, his expression complex.

Hong Niang caught his expression, and her heart instantly tensed. “Physician Wen, my daughter… is she alright?”

Wen Cong didn’t speak. He walked to the bedside, pulled over a chair to sit down, and looked up to tell Hong Niang, “Bring out her hand.”

“Alright.”

Hong Niang quickly took Huazheng’s slender hand out from the bedding and placed a thin handkerchief on her wrist.

Wen Cong took her pulse, his expression extremely complex, making it hard to read.

Hong Niang was sweating nervously throughout.

After taking the pulse, Wen Cong remained silent for a while.

“How is it?”

Wen Cong asked, “You’ve invited physicians to examine her before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, we invited many, but they were all… all useless.”

“The medicine?”

“It’s all outside.”

Wen Cong immediately stood up and went out. He glanced at those medicine jars, walked to a stove that was brewing medicine, took a piece of cloth, removed the medicine jar, poured the medicine into a bowl, brought it to his nose to smell, and frowned. “Why is there an additional ingredient of angelica root in the medicine?”

Hong Niang said, “Yes, there’s always been angelica root. She’s been drinking it like this for a long time.”

“That’s the problem then.”

That’s the problem?

What does that mean?

Hong Niang held the handkerchief in front of her abdomen with both hands, nervous to death. “Physician Wen, what do you mean by that? Could there be a problem with this angelica root?”

“There’s no problem with the angelica root. The problem is with this bowl of medicine.”

“Could there be poison in the medicine?” Hong Niang was so frightened her face turned deathly pale, and she staggered back two steps. “I wondered why after drinking medicine for so long, my daughter just wouldn’t wake up, and her body kept getting worse than before. So it was these medicines causing trouble! Why would those physicians want to harm my daughter? We have no grievances with them.”

As she spoke, she began to cry.

And grew even more furious.

Wen Cong couldn’t stand people crying like this. He said, “Stop crying. When I said there’s a problem with this medicine, I didn’t mean it’s poisoned.”

Hong Niang immediately stopped crying and asked while wiping her tears, “Not poisoned? Then… then what’s the matter?”

“To be honest with you, the illness Miss Huazheng suffers from isn’t actually serious. As long as it’s handled properly, she could wake up before long. It’s just that the physicians you hired were all a bunch of quacks! The medicines they prescribed were all highly nourishing tonics. Huazheng’s deficiency cannot accept such strong supplements. The blood vessels in her body alternate between cold and hot. Over time, her body becomes severely depleted, her seven blood essences exhausted, her tendons and bones sealed. If she continues drinking this medicine, you shouldn’t hope for her to wake up.”

“Uh…”

“Stop all these medicines immediately!”

Although Hong Niang was frightened, she wasn’t stupid. After thinking about it, she said somewhat doubtfully, “What you’re saying… is it really true?”

After all, she didn’t know Wen Cong.

She truly didn’t know whether it was true or false.

If the medicine was stopped and something happened to Huazheng, what would she do?

Wen Cong smiled. No one had ever dared doubt his medical skills before. Moreover, he was an expert in using poisons—no toxicity could escape his eyes. He never made wrong judgments. This Hong Niang was quite interesting…

He said, “If not for Miss Ji asking me, I wouldn’t have come. If you don’t believe me, then forget it.”

With a wave of his sleeve, he prepared to leave!

After taking just two steps, Hong Niang blocked his path. “I believe you. Since you’re the physician Miss Ji invited, I naturally believe you. After all, Miss Ji… wouldn’t deceive me.”

Wen Cong stared at her, watching to see what else she wanted to say.

Hong Niang asked, “Then what should we do now? As long as Physician Wen agrees to save her, I’m willing to do anything. No matter how much money…” She gritted her teeth. “I’m willing to pay!”

With Cuiyue Pavilion’s current situation, if Wen Cong really demanded an exorbitant price, she definitely couldn’t produce the money. But thinking that as long as Huazheng could wake up, Cuiyue Pavilion would be saved, she was willing to pay any price.

Wen Cong gave a cold smile and said, “I’m not doing this for money!”

“Then what do you want?”

“I don’t want anything.” Wen Cong had agreed to come here for Ji Yunshu as a transaction, not for money or other purposes.

This made Hong Niang breathe a huge sigh of relief.

No money required!

And nothing else either!

This was like a big pie falling from the sky—anyone who didn’t accept it would be a fool!

She gradually bowed in gratitude. “Physician Wen is truly a savior. I, Hong Niang, and everyone at Cuiyue Pavilion are deeply grateful to you.”

Wen Cong waved his hand, entered the inner chamber, and instructed without looking back, “Go prepare some ginger and brown sugar water, and also a packet of silver needles.”

Hong Niang froze for a moment before quickly responding, “Yes, right away!”

In a short while, she found those things.

“Physician Wen, what are these for?”

Ginger and brown sugar water—could these be medicine?

Wen Cong didn’t speak. He opened the packet of silver needles…