Seeing that another fight was about to break out, the several shop assistants in the apothecary immediately scrambled under the tables, not daring to come out at all. Fortunately, these people were very principled and moral – they only beat the fat shopkeeper and didn’t harm innocent bystanders.

Only after beating the fat shopkeeper until he couldn’t move on the ground did these people finally stop.

“Bah! You bastard, you came at us in the shadows, so we’ll come at you in the open. We beat you fair and square. Don’t think nobody knows about your guilty conscience – Heaven has eyes! This isn’t over, we’ll see how this plays out!” Hu San cursed, spitting on the fat shopkeeper’s body. With a wave of his hand, he led several disciples carrying sticks and left.

The crowd of onlookers outside dispersed with a commotion.

“Help! Violence! Violence! Quick, report to the officials…” the fat shopkeeper moaned, struggling to call out with the help of several assistants who removed the burlap sack from him. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw several constables drinking tea and chatting in the teahouse across the street.

“Officers, officers…” the fat shopkeeper hurriedly called out, supported by his assistants as he stumbled forward. “Someone committed assault…”

The constables looked over casually.

“What assault? In broad daylight, where’s there any assault?” one of them said lazily.

With such a big commotion, how could you not have heard it! The fat shopkeeper trembled with both anger and pain.

“Just now, these people, all these people saw it…” he pointed around at the surroundings.

Hearing this, the constables walked over, drawing the knives from their hands and tapping them against their palms.

“Who among you saw anything?” he asked coldly with a stern face.

The surrounding people were startled. Seeing the constables’ expressions – as if they would immediately strike anyone who dared say they saw anything – they immediately dispersed with a commotion.

“Didn’t see anything, didn’t see anything,” everyone shouted in unison.

Are you all blind…

The fat shopkeeper was thunderstruck.

Those men had swaggered about so brazenly in broad daylight with such a big commotion, and you were all watching the excitement just now – how is it that now you didn’t see anything?

Truly the world is declining and people’s hearts are not what they used to be!

“Have you no conscience!” the fat shopkeeper cried out in anguish. “Have you no humanity!”

“Enough with the howling like a ghost. Disperse, disperse,” the constables waved their hands and shouted.

The street quickly emptied of onlookers. Only the fat shopkeeper remained standing in the street with his bruised face, crooked mouth, and swollen eyes.

“It was Qianjin Hall who did this! I know…” he couldn’t help but shout.

Before his words finished, he saw the constables charging toward him.

“What did you say?” one of them said, his eyes cold and menacing. The other three also surrounded him, trapping the fat shopkeeper in the middle.

The fat shopkeeper shuddered.

He’d heard that the prefect’s son personally threw those troublemaking burly men into prison, and that when this Lady Qi called out, all the young masters in the city would follow her to fight…

If she called out, then his apothecary…

He looked toward his own shop, seeming to already see a pile of rubble before him.

Thinking of it this way, getting a beating was actually the lighter punishment…

“Nothing, nothing. I drank too much and got confused, having delusions. No one beat me. In this broad daylight, all is peaceful and harmonious…” the fat shopkeeper said tremblingly, forcing a smile on his swollen face.

On this side, Hu San had already swaggered back to Qianjin Hall with his men.

“Where did you all go?” Liu Pucheng asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” Hu San said with a grin.

Liu Pucheng was busy and didn’t have time to ask further. He glanced at him and walked away.

Hu San slipped into Qi Yue’s office.

“Master, we beat that bastard as you said. The bastard is like a mute eating bitter herbs – suffering in silence,” he said in a low voice with a laugh.

Qi Yue was writing medical records and snorted with laughter at his words.

“Serves him right,” she said.

Hu San chuckled.

“Master, I thought you’d gone soft…” he said.

Qi Yue spat and laughed.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, why would I go soft?” she laughed. “After bullying me, did he think it would just pass so easily? Does he think I’m someone anyone can step on?”

In the capital, near the imperial palace where idle people were forbidden to approach, government offices were scattered everywhere. Among them, an unremarkable building on the east side bore the three characters “Imperial Medical Academy.”

At this moment, a minor official in government robes walked out. A young servant crouching by the wall corner immediately ran forward.

“Sir, a letter,” he said respectfully.

The minor official tore it open and read it quickly, his expression turning grim.

“You may go,” he said, crumpling the letter in his palm. With that, he turned and went back inside.

“Little Wang!” A man in official robes carrying a medicine box called out when he saw him. “Hurry up and deliver the medicine that the Imperial Incense Bureau requested.”

Wang Qingchun’s face showed no trace of grimness, but was instead humble and amiable as he smiled and bowed respectfully.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

After the man passed, he straightened up and looked again at the crumpled letter in his hand.

Consider yourself lucky this time that you weren’t beaten to death. But he didn’t believe you could be so fortunate every time.

Wang Qingchun looked up at the southern horizon, clenched the letter once more, and walked away.

Days passed in a flash, and spring had already covered Yongqing Prefecture.

“Stop medication, cheerful mood, safe and sound.”

After writing this sentence, the small paper slip was rolled up and placed in a bamboo tube. The back window was opened, and a pigeon soared into the sky.

“Qingzi!”

A shout came from outside the door.

The laborer quickly closed the window and ran out in response.

“The medicine drying over there should be collected now!” a disciple in a light blue outer garment shouted to him.

The laborer called Qingzi responded yes, grabbed the black outer garment draped over his arm that identified him as a pharmacy laborer, and hurried off.

In the room with the “Outpatient Clinic” sign, Qi Yue was examining a patient who had come for a follow-up.

“The recovery is quite good,” she said with a smile, straightening up.

“It’s because of your superb medical skills, Lady,” the man said gratefully.

Qi Yue put the stethoscope into the strap on her clothes, took a piece of paper from the table, wrote a line, and handed it to the patient.

“Go on, go to the nursing station for dressing change,” she said.

Nursing station?

Though the man was puzzled, he obediently followed along. Since the doctors at this medical hall could split bones and cut into bodies, naturally their practices would be different from other establishments.

The expanded and bright hall had the most crowded counter prominently displaying the three characters “Nursing Station.”

“A’Ru,” Qi Yue called out.

A’Ru, wearing a white outer garment with her hair wrapped in a headscarf, was bandaging a child who had broken his arm from a fall. Hearing the call, she immediately responded yes, but didn’t stop her work until she finished what she was doing.

“Do a dressing change for this one,” Qi Yue said.

A’Ru responded yes and looked at the man with a smile.

“Give me the slip,” she extended her hand.

The doctor had already come personally and explained – what slip was still needed?

The man paused, then handed over the slip in his hand.

A’Ru looked down at it briefly, then smiled and led the way.

“This way,” she said.

Qi Yue stood in the hall, seeing someone outside peeking in, seeming to want to enter but afraid of going to the wrong place.

“Hello, may I help you with something?”

The Qianjin Hall staff member responsible for guidance immediately stepped forward to ask.

Hello? Really…

“For medical consultation, please go to the left to the outpatient clinic,” the staff member pointed the way. “For filling prescriptions, please go this way to the pharmacy.”

The person nodded and timidly stepped inside.

“I, I, hurt my foot, and that notice said something about disinfection and anti-inflammation. Nothing else is wrong, I just came to ask…” he stuttered, pointing to his foot.

In the past, when injured, people would just grab some dirt and ash to sprinkle on it without caring. But a few days ago, the literate village chief had taken a piece of paper and read it under the big tree, talking about daily treatment methods for various external injuries – something about washing surface abrasions with light salt water, using clean cloth to press on torn wounds, and especially not to sprinkle ash and dirt.

Otherwise it would become infected and fester. Don’t underestimate small wounds – they could very well cost you your life, the village chief had said gravely at the end.

He had been frightened. But they had always handled it this way for small scrapes. It wasn’t some serious illness that would leave you bedridden – going to a medical hall might be too dramatic, right? But when the moment came, thinking of the village chief’s words about rotten legs and amputations, he hesitated for a long time with dirt in his hand but couldn’t bring himself to sprinkle it. So he gritted his teeth and came here anxiously.

If the villagers knew he had delayed half a day’s work to run to the city just for a broken scrape on his foot, they would surely laugh him to death.

“This, ah,” the staff member said, then called out, “Someone here has an external wound that needs treatment.”

The nursing station heard and someone came over.

“Please follow me,” the disciple in white robes said kindly.

Everyone here is so polite – could it be that their medical skills aren’t good, so they lack confidence…

The villager thought to himself, also feeling somewhat timid.

“Um, how much does it cost?” he asked.

The staff member pointed to a large screen hanging on the wall, which didn’t have landscape paintings or calligraphy, but neat small grids with services and prices written on them.

“For what you need – simple external wound cleaning and disinfection – no consultation required, no charge,” he said after looking carefully.

No charge? The villager immediately perked up.

“Good, good,” he followed the disciple happily.

Seeing this, Qi Yue’s smile grew even broader. She looked around the hall once more, then turned and walked back to her consultation room. When it wasn’t serious trauma cases, she was quite relaxed. Sitting down, she picked up a traditional Chinese medicine book to read seriously, spreading out her notes and jotting down anything she didn’t understand to ask Liu Pucheng about after he finished work.

In the evening, when the bustling Qianjin Hall quieted down, Qi Yue and A’Ru walked out the door.

“Oh right, Yan’er should come for her follow-up. Find a way to notify eldest sister,” she said, remembering something.

A’Ru nodded.

Qi Yue stretched her arms.

“I’m so tired today,” she said. “How about we get some wine to go back and drink?”

A’Ru pursed her lips and glanced at her.

“The doctor said you’re not allowed to drink,” she said.

“Which doctor said that?” Qi Yue said with a grin, linking arms with A’Ru. “I’m also a doctor – I say it’s fine.”

“Your word doesn’t count. If you can read pulse, then I’ll listen to you,” A’Ru said with a huff.

Qi Yue laughed heartily.

“Don’t underestimate me – I’ll learn it soon,” she laughed, shaking A’Ru’s arm again. “Just a little bit.”

A’Ru was completely unmoved.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said. “Go back and drink the fish soup A’Hao made.”

Qi Yue covered her eyes with her hand.

“Oh God, A’Ru, even delicacies get boring if you eat them all the time, let alone fish brains…” she wailed.

A’Ru pulled her forward while laughing.

“You are what you eat,” she laughed.

“Fish only have seven seconds of memory, dear. What does that supplement?” Qi Yue laughed.

Seven seconds? What does that mean?

“Anyway, don’t think about drinking,” A’Ru said, brooking no argument.

Qi Yue put on a dejected expression.

“Pay up, pay up!”

Suddenly children’s voices rang out in the street.

“Eat my scallion pancake, pay up!”

“What payment? I’m just tasting whether your pancake is edible or not – what payment?” two idlers said, throwing down a pancake that had only one bite left, spitting. “Tastes awful.”

As he said this, he pushed away the child who was tugging at his sleeve.

“Get lost.”

The child was pushed to the ground, and the basket on her arm tipped over, several pancakes sliding out.

Passersby showed some indignation in their eyes, but seeing the idlers’ demeanor, they all lowered their heads and pretended not to see.

The child cried as she frantically picked up the pancakes.

“Little brat, even wearing a face covering, thinks she’s some courtesan,” the idler laughed. One of them simply reached out to pull off the child’s face covering.

The girl was startled and cried as she tried to dodge, hurriedly covering her mouth, but it was too late. The idler let out a yell.

“Good heavens, such a big scar on her mouth!” he shouted dramatically, grabbing the girl who was covering her mouth. “Look, look, like an earthworm…”

The girl cried loudly, desperately covering her mouth and trying to break free, but how could she match an adult’s strength? Passersby also looked over.

“Yan’er?”

A woman’s voice suddenly rang out.

Yan’er shuddered and saw a woman standing in front of her, looking at her with disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” Qi Yue asked, thinking she was seeing things.