After the four secured their handkerchiefs, they followed Imperial Advisor An through the city gate.

Once inside Gushan City’s gates, they saw the streets empty, though faint wails could be heard emanating from various houses.

After walking for some distance, Imperial Advisor An led them to the entrance of a village.

“Imperial Advisor,” several imperial guards at the entrance bowed to Imperial Advisor An.

Imperial Advisor An nodded and looked toward Chu Li, Mu Yunjin, and the others, “The epidemic originated from this village, and the villagers here are the most severely infected. By now, more than half of the village’s population has perished, and the remaining few are barely clinging to life.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin frowned. She wasn’t afraid of the epidemic, but she secretly felt that this seemed to be another thorny issue.

Yun Lianqing, dressed in casual clothes, walked out of the village. Seeing the people outside, he immediately spoke, “Lady Hua Ying has arrived? Then please go in and take a look.”

Hua Ying nodded. Just as she was about to enter, Yun Lianqing cautioned, “Lady Hua Ying, please be careful.”

“Mm,” Hua Ying acknowledged and walked into the village.

…

…

Huang Yan quickly followed his wife.

Yun Lianqing was also about to follow when Imperial Advisor An grabbed him, “Crown Prince, given your special status, it’s better not to go in. If anything were to happen to you, we couldn’t explain it to His Majesty.”

Only at moments like this did Imperial Advisor An inwardly acknowledge that Yun Lianqing would surely make a good ruler in the future.

Normally, seeing Yun Lianqing’s frivolous demeanor, he couldn’t imagine what this young man would be like once he ascended the throne.

“No, this Crown Prince has promised Father Emperor to resolve the epidemic situation here. How can I just stand aside and watch?” With those words, Yun Lianqing hurriedly went in.

Imperial Advisor An sighed.

“Let’s go in and see too,” Mu Yunjin took Chu Li’s hand and walked toward the village.

Imperial Advisor An walked last, muttering to himself, “These fearless children…”

After entering the village, Mu Yunjin found the situation more serious than she had imagined.

Along the way, they had already encountered several putrefying corpses. Due to the hot weather, a foul smell permeated the air.

Nearby villagers who still had breath, upon seeing them, struggled to lunge forward begging for medicine, but having no strength, they missed and could only collapse to the ground, moaning softly.

Seeing this scene, Mu Yunjin felt uneasy.

Beside them, after entering the village, Hua Ying first examined an already decomposing corpse. After looking for a long time, apart from feeling nauseated, she found no traces of poison.

Rising and walking a bit further, she spotted a boy being held by a woman. She paused and approached the child.

“Please, save my child!” The woman, seeing someone approaching, immediately knelt down and repeatedly kowtowed.

She was already infected with the epidemic, as was her child. She wasn’t afraid of dying, but she couldn’t bear for her child to die with her—he was still so young…

Hua Ying squatted down, took the boy’s hand, and gently placed her fingers on his wrist to check his pulse.

After examining his pulse for a while, Hua Ying removed the boy’s upper garment to look at the red rashes on his body, some of which had turned into blood blisters.

She knew that after some time, without medicine, these blood blisters would gradually fester and lead to death…

“How is it?” Yun Lianqing asked anxiously.

Hua Ying helped the boy put his clothes back on, stood up, gave Yun Lianqing a meaningful look, and walked to a deserted corner ahead.

The others followed behind.

“They haven’t been poisoned, so I’m powerless against this epidemic,” Hua Ying said somewhat dejectedly, lowering her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Yun Lianqing’s expression stiffened as he helplessly tapped his forehead, pacing back and forth, “What can we do? If Lady Hua Ying has no solution, and neither do the imperial physicians in the palace and city, is this epidemic truly unsolvable?”

“If this continues, over time, the epidemic may spread…” Yun Lianqing grew increasingly troubled.

Though Imperial Advisor An usually had many solutions, he was also at a loss. For such an epidemic, unless the root cause was found and completely resolved, there was nothing they could do.

Watching from the side, Mu Yunjin bit her lip, her gaze falling on Hua Ying, “Hua Ying, didn’t Qiqi just say that Zhangzhou City’s Lord Bai came from a medical family? Do you think they might have a way?”

“The Bai family…” Hua Ying shook her head, “We don’t even know if what Qiqi said is reliable.”

“Bai family? What Bai family?” Yun Lianqing became excited, glancing at Mu Yunjin, then at Hua Ying, digesting what they had said.

Lord Bai?

Medical family?

After thinking, Yun Lianqing looked at Imperial Advisor An, “Advisor, didn’t you say this morning that you know a brother from a medical family surnamed Bai?”

Imperial Advisor An was confused, turning to look at Mu Yunjin, “Girl, what city lord, what Bai family are you talking about?”

“I just asked Qiqi if there was a divine female physician surnamed Bai in Zhangzhou City. Qiqi told me that the newly appointed city lord of Zhangzhou City is surnamed Bai. After investigating this Lord Bai, she found that they used to study medicine.”

“So, I don’t know if this Lord Bai is the same young brother surnamed Bai you mentioned. But the world is vast, and there are many people surnamed Bai—perhaps it’s just a coincidence,” Mu Yunjin sighed.

Imperial Advisor An seemed to understand somewhat, “If that’s the case, I’ll make a trip to Zhangzhou City now to see if that Lord Bai is my young brother. If it is him, then there’s hope for this epidemic.”

“Mm, I’ll take you using my formless space,” Hua Ying offered.

Imperial Advisor An nodded.

Just as Yun Lianqing was about to speak, a guard hurriedly ran in from outside, “Crown Prince, there’s a woman outside the city gate who claims she can cure the epidemic and insists on entering the city.”

“A woman?” Yun Lianqing was taken aback.

“Yes, a woman,” the guard replied.

Yun Lianqing’s eyes darted around as he looked at the guard suspiciously, “What does she look like?”

“She’s dressed all in white and wearing a veil—I couldn’t see her face,” the guard said.

“Dressed all in white…” Yun Lianqing repeated, then his eyes lit up, “Quick, take this Crown Prince to see her.”

With that, he hurriedly followed the guard outside.

The rest of the people still standing there exchanged glances for a moment before Imperial Advisor An chuckled self-mockingly, “It seems that trip to Zhangzhou City won’t be necessary.”

……

Yun Lianqing hurried to Gushan City’s gate. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a woman standing there dressed in a white gauze dress, with an otherworldly aura. Her black hair was simply tied with a white band, and she wore a veil that obscured her features. Though her face couldn’t be seen, her visible phoenix eyes conveyed a serene and spirited quality, radiating brilliance.

“It’s you!” Yun Lianqing exclaimed with delight. Although the woman before him had covered her face, he could recognize her at a glance by her figure and demeanor.

Who else could it be but the divine female physician who had healed his leg!

Seeing Yun Lianqing, the woman stepped forward, bowed slightly to him, and said softly, “Greetings, Crown Prince. I heard that an epidemic has suddenly broken out in Gushan City, so I came specially to see if I could be of help.”

Yun Lianqing nodded. Although he was very happy to see the woman before him, he still had some reservations about trusting her, “The epidemic in Gushan City hasn’t spread throughout South Court Kingdom yet. How did you know about this in Zhangzhou City?”

When asked this question, the woman didn’t get angry but took something from her sleeve.

At this moment, Imperial Advisor An had also run out from inside the city and arrived at the gate. As soon as he emerged, he saw Yun Lianqing talking with a woman in white.

After walking a few steps closer, he saw the white-clad woman holding a circular jade stone in her palm. The jade stone was somewhat similar to a modern compass, and currently, the southwestern direction on the stone was glowing with a faint light.

Southwest—that was the location of Gushan.

“Uncle An,” the woman glanced sideways, noticed Imperial Advisor An, and her phoenix eyes curved in a smile.

This address of “Uncle An” startled Imperial Advisor An, as he couldn’t recall anyone ever calling him that.

Looking at the woman, he saw her put away the jade stone and remove her veil, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty and exquisitely drawn features to Yun Lianqing and Imperial Advisor An.

“You are… little Qinghuan?” Imperial Advisor An was slightly stunned, finding the face before him vaguely familiar but not daring to confirm hastily.

Hearing this, the woman nodded with a light smile, “It’s me, Uncle An.”

“My goodness, it is you! I haven’t seen you in years, and you’ve grown into a young lady. I almost didn’t recognize you,” Imperial Advisor An was also somewhat surprised.

The woman before him was none other than the daughter of his “young brother surnamed Bai,” Bai Qinghuan.

Yun Lianqing looked at Imperial Advisor An with an expression as if he’d seen a ghost, pulled his sleeve, walked a few steps to the side, and whispered, “You know this lady?”

“Mm,” Imperial Advisor An nodded, raising an eyebrow at Yun Lianqing, “Could it be that you’ve taken a fancy to this divine female physician?”

“Let’s not discuss that now. Don’t you find it strange that she suddenly appeared here from Zhangzhou City?” Yun Lianqing remained cautious.

As soon as he finished speaking, Imperial Advisor An poked him on the temple, “Didn’t she just show you that jade stone? Didn’t you see the light on the stone pointing to Gushan City’s location?”

“What does that mean?” Yun Lianqing didn’t quite understand.

“This jade stone is a sacred artifact passed down through generations in the Bai family. They can use it to detect where medical assistance is needed to save lives. But detection is one thing—whether they choose to help depends on their mood,” Imperial Advisor An explained.

Yun Lianqing raised his eyebrows, “Is this jade stone really that amazing?”

“In this vast world, nothing is too extraordinary. Now that she has personally come, shouldn’t you quickly take her inside to examine this epidemic?” Imperial Advisor An brought the conversation back to the main topic.

Yun Lianqing immediately came to his senses and ran over to Bai Qinghuan, who was still standing at the city gate, “Miss Bai, please come with this Crown Prince.”

Bai Qinghuan nodded, covered her face with the veil again, and followed Yun Lianqing through Gushan City’s gate.

Imperial Advisor An followed behind, looking at Bai Qinghuan’s back, furrowing his brow, and thinking to himself: Old friend Bai becoming a city lord and sending his daughter to Gushan City—could it be that he wants to spread the fame of the Bai family’s medical skills?