After Qi Yue finished shouting, her anger dissipated.

“Your throat is blocked, and your brain is blocked too? Wake up! You don’t owe gratitude to me – you owe it to your mother, to your son. If not for them, do you think you’d still be alive? In this world, besides them, who cares whether you live or die!” She snorted, “You think you’re tormenting and torturing me? Wake up, fool! Besides those who love you, who can you hurt? Whether you live or die, whether you’re happy or sad, whether you enjoy fortune or suffer hardship – who cares! Look at your foolish appearance, it’s really laughable!”

In the quiet room, Imperial Physician Zhou laughed out loud again.

“That’s right, that’s right,” he even nodded as he spoke.

Liu Pucheng looked at him somewhat helplessly again.

Old Madam Xie trembled as she came over from the side and grasped Madam Xie’s hand.

“Zhengmei, Zhengmei,” she called, “I’ve already had to bury one child before their parent once. Don’t make me do it again…”

She couldn’t continue speaking, and tears flowed down her withered, wrinkled face.

Madam Xie looked at her and finally made whimpering sounds as tears flowed, tightly gripping Old Madam Xie’s hand.

Chang Yuncheng also walked over and knelt by the bed, grasping Madam Xie’s other hand.

“Don’t let her cry. It’s bad for the wound,” Qi Yue said.

But clearly, you’re the one who made her cry…

Of course, no one dared say this.

Her words were like an imperial edict. Old Madam Xie immediately stopped crying and hurriedly wiped Madam Xie’s tears.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. When you’re better, you can cry however you want,” she coaxed.

Watching this scene, everyone in the room felt somewhat moved, except for Imperial Physician Zhou and Qi Yue.

Qi Yue sighed.

“Is Master also moved?” a disciple couldn’t help but ask.

Qi Yue shook her head. She was now standing outside the sick room, looking at the courtyard.

“Such a detestable person still has people who care for and love her. It’s really…” she shook her head and sighed, “There’s no justice in heaven.”

What… what did this mean?

Could it be that Master wasn’t speaking in reverse to counsel the patient just now, but was really… scolding?

“Of course I was really scolding,” Qi Yue said in her room, fiddling with a quill pen as she spoke to A’Ru who had brought her food. “I feel annoyed just looking at her! Complete neurotic!”

As she said this, she viciously stabbed the orange peel on the table with the quill pen.

“Don’t play with that,” A’Ru reached out to take away the orange peel. “The stain on your hands won’t wash off easily.”

“I don’t want to eat,” Qi Yue pushed away the food box.

A’Ru looked at the barely touched food.

“What’s wrong with you again?” she asked. “Are you tired?”

Qi Yue lazily made an “oh” sound.

“Then rest early. I’ll take the first half of the night watch. You sleep first, and I’ll call you later. I’ll prepare some midnight snacks too,” A’Ru said while starting to clear the dishes.

There were footsteps outside that stopped at the door.

“Lord,” A’Ru turned to look back, hurriedly bowing as she addressed him.

Chang Yuncheng walked in.

Qi Yue remained lying lazily on the table, not moving.

“How is Madam?” A’Ru had to actively ask.

“She’s taken medicine and is sleeping,” Chang Yuncheng said. “I had someone escort grandmother back.”

“With nurses there, you don’t need to keep watch at her side,” Qi Yue said, supporting herself on the table to sit up properly as she looked at Chang Yuncheng. “You should also go lie down. Haven’t you slept for several days and nights?”

Chang Yuncheng looked at her, lowering his eyes to hide the bloodshot veins that had spread throughout them.

“Has Lord eaten?” A’Ru asked.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t speak.

“Where would he find time to eat,” Qi Yue said. “Go get another portion from the cafeteria.”

A’Ru responded and left.

Chang Yuncheng sat down and looked around the room.

“How is it? My office isn’t bad, right?” Qi Yue leaned back in her chair, spreading her hands with a smile as she asked.

Two rooms, inner and outer, with bamboo curtains hanging between them. The outer room had a table, a cabinet, a small bed, a clothes rack. Books and pens were arranged on the table, along with two pots of lush green plants. A bamboo tube extended from the wall, with a water basin underneath, beside which sat a large pot of green-leafed plants.

She didn’t like flowering plants. She always grew lush green plants that only grew leaves, like spider plants and such.

Looking at everything overall, it was all so familiar, just like being at home.

But this home would never have him again.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Chang Yuncheng turned his gaze away to the table.

A’Ru hadn’t taken away the food box; Qi Yue’s was still on the table.

Qi Yue made an “oh” sound but didn’t say anything.

“You woman…” Chang Yuncheng looked at her but didn’t continue. Instead, he leaned forward to pick up the chopsticks. “Eat.”

Qi Yue made a “tsk” sound and leaned back in her chair again, looking like she might prop her legs up.

Chang Yuncheng’s hand holding the chopsticks persisted in reaching out.

Competing in patience with a physician? Qi Yue smiled as she looked at him.

Chang Yuncheng withdrew his hand, placed the chopsticks down with a thud, and began eating Qi Yue’s food.

“Hey!” Qi Yue straightened up.

This time it was Chang Yuncheng’s turn to ignore her as he ate in large bites.

“It’s cold!” Qi Yue said.

Chang Yuncheng’s chopsticks paused slightly as he brought food to his mouth. His throat felt burning and his eyes stung, but he continued eating in large bites.

A’Ru came in carrying food and was stunned by the scene.

“Give me that one,” Qi Yue said, reaching out.

A’Ru hurriedly brought it over and set it down.

Qi Yue picked up her chopsticks and began eating too.

The two people in the room ate quietly without speaking. A’Ru watched them and gradually stepped aside. Looking at the two people separated by a table, heads down eating, she somehow felt only sadness in her heart. She turned around and wiped away tears that had welled up in her eyes while pretending to fix her hair.

The simple meal was finished quickly, and A’Ru cleared up and left.

“I don’t have any good tea here,” Qi Yue said, pouring him a cup of tea.

Chang Yuncheng reached out to take it, but before he could grasp it, Qi Yue pulled her hand back.

“Let it cool down before drinking. Don’t just pour things into your mouth regardless of hot or cold,” she said.

Chang Yuncheng looked at her.

“Good, I’ll remember,” he said.

Only then did Qi Yue push the cup toward him, and she stood up.

“I’ll go check on your mother while she’s sleeping,” she said.

Chang Yuncheng stood up, but Qi Yue had already walked out.

She really didn’t want to spend too much time with him, and didn’t want to say much more to him…

Yes, she cared for him, was considerate of him, understood him, and perhaps even liked him. But she could do without him.

When Qi Yue came back in, she found Chang Yuncheng had already fallen asleep on the small bed outside.

“Should I wake him?” A’Ru asked in a low voice.

Qi Yue shook her head.

“Obviously he’s extremely tired. He doesn’t need to keep watch in the sick room either. Even if he kept watch there, he wouldn’t sleep well. Let him rest here,” she said softly.

“You go sleep at my place,” A’Ru said quietly.

Qi Yue nodded, and A’Ru went to tidy up first. She stood by the door for a while, then finally walked in.

This small bed wasn’t for resting but for examining patients, so it only had a sheet spread over it, with no pillow or blanket. Sleeping on the hard surface certainly wouldn’t be comfortable.

Qi Yue lifted the curtain and entered the inner room, bringing her own pillow and thin blanket.

The man slept deeply. Qi Yue struggled considerably to lift his head and place the pillow properly, then took off his shoes and covered his waist and abdomen with the thin blanket, drawing the window curtains before walking out.

The door was gently closed, and the sound of footsteps faded away. Chang Yuncheng on the bed curled up his body, his eyes still tightly closed, even more tightly closed. He turned on his side and reached out to tightly embrace the pillow, burying his head in it.

Let him be shameless just this once. Only by pretending to be foolish and shameless this once could he get close to her again, could he possess her scent again.

Chang Yuncheng’s body slowly curled up. The pillow was no longer under his head but held tightly in his arms. On the small bed, the tall man seemed so lonely.

At first he had indeed only been pretending to sleep, thinking to enjoy the feeling of her being nearby one more time. With Madam Xie in her current state, he definitely couldn’t sleep, but he hadn’t expected to actually fall asleep. When he woke with a start, he found the night outside was already deep and quiet.

It must have been because his heart was at peace.

Chang Yuncheng got up, looked at the blanket and pillow in his arms, slowly arranged them neatly and placed them on the bed. He looked around the room again. Nothing could be seen clearly in the darkness, but he still looked over everything bit by bit, as if wanting to imprint it all in his heart, then turned and walked out.

Only one lantern hung in the courtyard, creating a mutual glow with the light coming from one of the sick rooms.

Chang Yuncheng walked over and saw Qi Yue’s silhouette through the bamboo curtain.

“Master, don’t people who commit suicide usually cut their throats? Why can cutting the throat kill someone, but also save someone’s life?” two disciples asked from the side.

Qi Yue, who was checking a blood pressure gauge, smiled.

“That depends on how you cut. It’s like arsenic being poison that kills if you eat it, but when used in medicine, it can cure illness,” she laughed.

The disciples made “oh” sounds and smiled as they scratched their heads.

“Master is really amazing. How did you think of it?” they said.

“I’m not amazing. This, ah, is the accumulated experience of countless generations,” Qi Yue stood up, looking at the wound on the sleeping Madam Xie’s throat. A breathable cloth was now draped over the tracheal tube to prevent dust contamination. “Countless failed experiences created what seems like an incredible miraculous technique today.”

At this point, she looked toward the two disciples.

“So we should never fear failure. What appears to be failure actually provides experience for those who come after. Failed experience is also success,” she said.

She was speaking to the disciples, but also to herself.

The two disciples straightened up.

“Yes,” they responded solemnly.

“Don’t be so formal,” Qi Yue laughed, directing them. “Come, continue the nebulization.”

The disciples responded and began working with the small incense burner on the charcoal brazier.

“…Master, will her throat feel comfortable after inhaling this?”

“Yes, it can prevent dryness.”

“But Master, you were really amazing then, to dare stab down like that…”

At this point, Qi Yue smiled.

“Actually, I’m not that amazing,” she said with some reminiscence. “I once saw a patient who suddenly developed respiratory obstruction. At that time, there was nothing available, and that old physician used his own fountain pen to perform a tracheotomy, buying life-saving time for the patient…”

She looked at the disciples at this point.

Surprised? Shocked?

The disciples nodded with wide eyes.

“Master, what’s a fountain pen?” one of them asked with a face full of curiosity.

Ancient people’s focus was always out of sync with hers…

Qi Yue let out a frustrated breath.

“It’s a type of pen, with a sharp point…” she said dejectedly.

The disciple made an “oh” sound.

“Like the quill pen Master uses?”

“…Steel and feathers are different, right?”

“…What’s steel?”

Seeing the topic running away like an unbridled horse, Qi Yue smiled and shook her head. The latter half of the night was the most tiring time – it was good for everyone to chat. She smiled and turned around, carefully examining Madam Xie’s entire body to check for subcutaneous emphysema.

Under the dim lamplight, the busy figures in the room looked so warm and cozy.

Chang Yuncheng withdrew his gaze from the window, turned to look at the courtyard.

The night gradually faded, morning mist lifted, and people gradually began walking on the streets. Suddenly, a passerby stopped and let out a sharp scream.

Startled, he crouched on the ground. After a while, he came to his senses and, seeing no danger approaching, carefully raised his head to look over.

Not far away on the street, a row of people knelt, dressed in mourning clothes, a white mass.

Early in the morning, suddenly seeing this could really scare someone to death!

What was this about?

The passerby muttered and walked closer out of curiosity, then clearly saw that in front of Qianjin Hall, besides these women and children in hemp and mourning, there was a door panel placed before them with a… dead person lying on it.

The passerby finally let out another scream and ran away with his head turned.