After Wen Cong finished administering the needles to Huazheng, the time it took was already one incense stick’s worth.

He wiped his hands and stood up, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and palms.

Saving someone wasn’t easy!

Hong Niang had been standing anxiously and worriedly by the side the whole time. She watched as the needles were inserted and withdrawn, her heart twisted into a knot. But seeing that all the needles had been administered yet Huazheng’s complexion remained deathly pale, she asked nervously, “Physician Wen, how is it? Can my daughter be saved? Will she wake up soon?”

Wen Cong said, “It depends on the situation!”

“Depends on the situation?”

“Miss Huazheng’s illness didn’t occur suddenly—it accumulated over a long time. Now all the meridians in her body have become misaligned. It’s impossible for her to recover immediately. She might wake up in ten days to half a month, or it might take several months.”

“Ah!” Hong Niang was stunned and flustered, murmuring worriedly, “Ten days to half a month? What should I do? If Huazheng can’t attend the Courtesan Selection Day, everyone in the city will know she’s ill. At that time… Cuiyue Pavilion will be finished. What can I… what can I do? What will everyone up and down do?”

Her soft murmurs were heard by Wen Cong, but he pretended not to know and didn’t want to concern himself with other matters. He said, “Today’s needle treatment is about done. I’ll come again tomorrow to continue administering needles to Miss Huazheng for a few more days. But whether she can wake up quickly in the end still depends on fate—it’s not something human effort can force.”

Helpless!

Hong Niang inquired again, “Is there really no other way? Can’t she wake up within these two days?”

“Even if the greatest immortal descended, there would be no way.”

“But…”

“Stop using the medicine outside. I’ll prescribe new ones. Have someone fetch the medicine—one bowl daily. After drinking it, also make her drink a bowl of diluted wine. The weather is quite cold now. If you have time, burn some mugwort by the bedside and fumigate starting from her feet for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Not longer, not shorter.”

Although Hong Niang was anxious, she still carefully noted down all these key points.

Wen Cong was afraid this woman wouldn’t remember, so after writing the prescription, he also listed out all the precautions.

Hong Niang thanked him repeatedly and personally escorted him out the door.

Before leaving, Wen Cong hesitated to speak several times, but ultimately swallowed his words…

The weather had already turned cold, the cold wind cutting into people’s hearts like knives.

After Wen Cong boarded the carriage, his expression immediately darkened.

His brows were tightly furrowed.

It seemed Miss Huazheng’s illness had other complications. It was just that earlier, considering various reasons, he hadn’t directly spoken of it in front of Hong Niang.

But this matter—what exactly was it that made him hesitate to speak?

After seeing Wen Cong off, Hong Niang sat alone by the bedside, touching Huazheng’s fair jade hand that was now nothing but skin and bones. As she sobbed, she said, “My poor daughter, you were fine—how did you end up like this? Heaven is truly blind. Your good fortune had just come, yet you unexpectedly suffered this kind of thing. If you don’t wake up soon, everyone at Cuiyue Pavilion will have to go drink the northwest wind, and I won’t be able to live either.”

She wiped her tears.

At this time, someone outside shouted loudly, “Hong Niang, Hong Niang, this is bad!”

The voice rang out at the door.

Hong Niang quickly wiped away her tears and went out. Flicking the handkerchief in her hand, she scolded, “What are you shouting about? No one’s died yet.”

The servant was so anxious he was gasping for breath. He said, “This is more serious than someone dying.”

“What happened exactly?”

“The Ministry of Rites… the Ministry of Rites just sent someone.” The servant quickly handed her a册子 and said, “This was just delivered by someone from the Ministry of Rites. They’re requesting Sister Huazheng to attend the Courtesan Selection Ceremony.”

Huazheng was the courtesan from three years ago. According to protocol, she should indeed attend this Courtesan Selection Day.

To make an appearance!

Hong Niang quickly grabbed the booklet and looked through it, sighing, “In the end, we still can’t escape this!”

“What do we do now?”

“If it’s fortune, it’s not disaster. If it’s disaster, we can’t escape it. We can only tell the truth.”

“Didn’t that physician just come to examine her? Is there really no solution?”

“He said everything depends on fate.”

“This…” The servant also became anxious.

Hong Niang looked back at the inner chamber. Now she couldn’t worry about so much. She immediately stuffed the prescription Wen Cong left into the servant’s hand and instructed, “Forget it, let’s not talk about other things first. You go out and fetch these medicines—they’re what Physician Wen just prescribed. Also, remove all those stoves inside.”

“Oh!”

The servant left.

**Zhu Residence**

Liu Yunzhu had been brought here to stay for a night after getting lost. Perhaps because she had just arrived at a new place and was separated from her sister, she was extremely anxious. She hadn’t slept much the whole night, and her eyes were like a rabbit’s eyes, red from crying.

Cai’er brought her food early in the morning, but she hadn’t touched her chopsticks.

It was heartbreaking to see.

Cai’er touched her head and asked, “Yunzhu, don’t you like the food?”

Liu Yunzhu shook her head.

“You didn’t eat much last night either. You can’t let yourself go hungry. You should at least eat a little. If you don’t like this, I’ll go make you something else. Tell me what you like, and I’ll make it for you.”

Liu Yunzhu shook her head again. Her small hand grabbed Cai’er’s hand and said, “Sister Cai’er, I’m not hungry. I just… miss my sister. What if we can’t find her?”

So pitiful…

She shed tears again.

Cai’er also felt sorry for this child and comforted her, “Don’t worry. As soon as we have news of your sister, we’ll tell you. As long as she’s still in Yanjing, we’ll definitely find her. You can stay here with peace of mind. Even if we really can’t find your sister, this will be your home from now on. Miss won’t abandon you.”

“No, I want my sister. I don’t want to be separated from her. I want to find my sister!”

“Alright, alright, alright. We’ll help you find her. We’ll definitely find her. Don’t be afraid, and don’t cry anymore.”

Liu Yunzhu kept sobbing.

After a while, Zhu Yao came over.

Seeing the situation in the room, she didn’t go in. Cai’er comforted her for quite a while before coming out. “Miss.”

“How is the little girl?”

“She keeps crying, missing her sister. She’s better now, but her eyes are as red as if blood vessels had burst.”

“In a moment, get a hot towel and apply it to her eyes.”

“Yes.”

Zhu Yao asked again, “By the way, is there any news from the Jing Zhaoyin’s office?”

Cai’er shook her head. “It’s been all morning and we haven’t received any news.”

“Go there again.”

“Didn’t we already go yesterday? The Jing Zhaoyin promised he would carefully send people to search. If we urge him again, won’t that be inappropriate?”

Zhu Yao analyzed, “The Jing Zhaoyin only agreed because you’re a maid from the Zhu residence. Maybe as soon as you left, he forgot all about it. So go again and say my father sent you.”

Cai’er suddenly understood. “Miss is still the smartest. I’ll go right away.”

“Mm.”

“But… what about that little girl?” She looked back into the room.

Zhu Yao said, “Just go. I’ll take care of her.”