The house that Hu San rented was a two-courtyard siheyuan with a brick-and-tile gate tower.

“The mud walls have some peeling. Should we repair them?” Hu San asked.

Xiao Qu led the other three to help A’Ru and A’Hao organize and arrange their luggage, while Qi Yue, acting as the hands-off boss, followed the head steward Hu San to inspect the residence.

“If we’re not staying long, we can move when Lord returns…” Hu San said.

Before finishing his sentence, he was glared at by Qi Yue.

“I’m not going to his place. It’s not like I have nowhere to live. I came to visit relatives, not to seek refuge,” she said.

Hu San just chuckled.

“That’s right, let him be the son-in-law who comes to the bride’s house,” he laughed.

Qi Yue laughed heartily.

“Then I’ll find someone tomorrow to do repairs, waiting for the new son-in-law to come to the door,” Hu San laughed.

Joking with Qi Yue was a delightful thing—no need to worry about getting his face scratched up.

“Go ahead, go ahead. We’ll be spending New Year here, so fix it up properly,” Qi Yue laughed.

Proper repairs wouldn’t be finished in just a day or two, so Qi Yue temporarily went back to staying at the inn until the third day, when she officially moved in.

The snow had been cleared away, and the newly renovated courtyard was hung with red lanterns. The aroma of food wafted from the kitchen, giving the small courtyard the atmosphere of a home.

Qi Yue stood at the door watching Hu San and Xiao Qu and others hang the lanterns.

“Xiao Qu, is there any news from Chang Yuncheng?” she asked.

“There is. He’s said to be rushing back from the capital,” Xiao Qu replied.

That would take more than twenty days.

Qi Yue calculated the time.

“When you inquired, you weren’t discovered, were you?” she asked again.

Xiao Qu nodded with a smile.

“It was quite fortunate. The group of people I knew all transferred with Lord, and the ones left behind—I know them, but they don’t know me,” he said.

At this point, he paused.

“However, it seems there’s something going on recently. Everyone’s been very busy,” Xiao Qu said. “It seems like they’re receiving someone important. The higher-ups are keeping things very tight-lipped, and they don’t know either.”

Qi Yue nodded, paying it no mind.

While they were talking, knocking came from outside the door.

“Is there a physician here? Does a physician live here?”

Along with a man’s booming voice.

Since they hadn’t come here prepared to practice medicine, the only ones who would know they were physicians were…

Qi Yue raised her chin, and Hu San ran to open the door.

A man rushed in and, upon seeing Qi Yue standing under the eaves, immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed.

“Thank you, physician, for your life-saving grace! Thank you, physician, for your life-saving grace!” he shouted with a trembling voice.

Qi Yue quickly had someone help him up.

This man was strong, and Hu San couldn’t support him, nearly getting pulled down himself.

It was Xiao Qu and the others who stepped forward to restrain and support him.

Experts could tell at a glance—the burly man naturally sensed that Xiao Qu and the others had martial skills. Slightly surprised, he obediently stood up.

“So your brother is well now?” Qi Yue asked.

The man called Dachun nodded, his expression excited.

“Yes, yes! He woke up that very night and even ate something. Now he can get up and walk around, and he’s even gone to the barracks,” he said.

Thinking of how those people in the barracks had their jaws drop when they saw Daniu, he couldn’t help but want to laugh heartily.

“Be careful not to let the wound get wet, and eat well to recuperate,” Qi Yue said with a smile. “Also, find another physician to prescribe some medicine to take or apply.”

“You are the physician! Why would we need to find another physician?” Dachun said urgently.

Qi Yue smiled without speaking.

Then Dachun remembered something and took out a money pouch.

“I don’t know if this consultation fee is enough?” he said somewhat anxiously.

Bringing someone back from the dead—such life-saving treatment must be very, very expensive.

Daniu’s family had no money, so this was what he had borrowed from several families to scrape together.

However, while this was a lot for him, for this woman…

His gaze fell on the vermillion hairpin in the woman’s hair. Even the garrison commander’s wife probably hadn’t worn such fine jewelry.

Of course, as a low-ranking soldier, he had only glimpsed the garrison commander’s wife from afar once.

Qi Yue reached out to take it, weighed it, and poured out half of the contents.

“This is enough,” she said, handing the remaining pouch back.

Dachun was overjoyed and quickly took it.

Hu San on the side curled his lips—this man was really honest…

After giving the money, Dachun seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

“If you have something to say, speak up. Be straightforward like a man,” Qi Yue laughed.

“It’s like this…” Dachun rubbed his hands, somewhat anxious. “I have a few other brothers. I wonder if I could ask the lady to take a look at them too?”

“Sure, I’m a physician. Since there are patients, naturally I should go see them,” Qi Yue said with a smile.

Dachun felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He breathed a sigh of relief, overjoyed, but then thought of something else.

“Well, they’re all poor soldiers. Please don’t be disgusted, my lady…” he mumbled.

Firstly, they didn’t have much money, and secondly, the places they lived were shabby.

“Enough, don’t be so polite. I’m a physician. When do people look for physicians? When they’re sick, when they’re not well, when they’re at their worst. Who would look for us when they’re fine, clean, and presentable? If I were disgusted by patients, I shouldn’t be a physician,” Qi Yue laughed. “Go, leave an address with my disciple, set an appointment, and I’ll make a trip over.”

Dachun was overjoyed, repeatedly thanking Qi Yue, then nodding and bowing to Hu San, no longer showing the prestige he had at the city gate.

After telling Hu San the address, Dachun didn’t even dare set a time, only saying it would be whenever the lady found convenient, then hurriedly took his leave.

Stepping on the thick snow, Dachun ran all the way to a military camp, walking straight to the lowest barracks in the innermost part, where four or five men in old military robes were already stretching their necks to look out.

“Dachun’s back!” they called out happily.

Seven or eight men in similar attire ran out of the building.

“How did it go?” they surrounded Dachun, shouting in confusion.

“She agreed! She agreed!” Dachun shouted happily.

These men were immediately overjoyed and rushed into the building. In the dim interior was a row of large kangs, with people lying on them and sitting on the floor, all groaning. Some had bandages on their arms, legs, or heads—clearly all wounded.

“When is she coming?” someone asked impatiently.

This was a man with a leg injury, his face full of hope.

Seeing Daniu, who had the same type of injury and had been given a death sentence but was now walking again, he grasped this like a last lifeline.

“It’s good enough that she’s willing to come. How could I be so presumptuous as to press her about when she’s coming?” Dachun said. “In any case, everyone can rest assured. This lady spoke very kindly. Everyone just wait patiently.”

While they were making a commotion, voices came from outside.

“Medicine distribution! Medicine distribution! Come get your own medicine!”

This voice carried its usual impatience, but the wounded soldiers didn’t rush out to grab medicine as usual.

“Screw you! I don’t want your useless medicine!” someone shouted loudly.

What?

Had these people gone crazy?

Two men in gray robes with their hands tucked in their sleeves exchanged surprised glances.

“Always bringing this useless medicine. We don’t want it anymore. We’ve hired a good physician ourselves. You people from the medical camp can get lost,” Dachun shouted, walking out of the building and glaring at the two men.

The two men also glared at him, then saw others being helped out or walking with crutches.

Indeed, no one came forward.

“Fine, don’t take it!” the two gray-robed men came to their senses and sneered. “We can’t be bothered serving you anyway.”

They waved their hands, and two young soldiers beside them lifted a large carrying pole with seven or eight small wooden buckets arranged on it, from which wafted medicinal aromas.

“Let’s go,” they said, turning to leave.

At first, the people from the medical camp didn’t take it seriously. Most of these wounded soldiers would be left disabled—it was normal for them to have personality changes after going from healthy people to useless invalids. But when this continued for several times, everyone realized these wounded soldiers were serious.

“They say they’ve hired a female physician…”

“Right, because women aren’t allowed in the barracks, Dachun even had a fight with the guards.”

“Where did they get a woman from? To treat illnesses?”

“Yes, they’re confident because Daniu was cured.”

“Which Daniu?”

“The one who was shot in the leg by a barbed arrow during an ambush by bandits, refused amputation, and later developed sepsis that was supposed to kill him.”

“What? That one? How could he have been cured?”

“But he really was cured. Otherwise, why would those people be so confident and worship that woman?”

“If that’s the case, then that woman really has some skill.”

In the room filled with medicinal aromas, there was much discussion. Four or five people had gathered together and been talking excitedly for half the day, but only one man sat alone in the corner, grinding herbs in his hands, his expression wooden as if he couldn’t hear or see the commotion.

“Physician Qiao, what do you think?”

He couldn’t see others, but others could see him, so someone asked.

Qiao Minghua kept his head down cutting medicine, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Think what? What’s there to think about?” he said woodenly.

Everyone knew his strange temperament and exchanged glances.

“Alright, alright. If they don’t want the medicine, they don’t want it. We still need to prepare it—they’re not the only ones who need medicine,” someone called out, and everyone finally dispersed to go about their business.

At this time, in the wounded soldiers’ quarters, Qi Yue was also busy.

The wounded here all had typical external wound infections—injuries caused by cold weapons in the era of blades and swords. Because they hadn’t received timely wound cleaning and infection prevention, wounds that shouldn’t have been fatal or disabling had developed into incurable conditions. Fortunately, Qi Yue carried some penicillin with her, which became a miraculous life-saving technique.

“I’m temporarily out of anesthetic. How about you wait until tomorrow for me to perform surgery?” she asked the wounded soldier lying before her.

Tomorrow? After waiting so long, he had finally seen hope. This wounded soldier didn’t want to wait even a moment longer.

“I’m not afraid of pain. When half my leg was cut off, I wasn’t afraid of pain,” he said urgently.

“But wound cleaning will hurt even more than that,” Qi Yue said.

Before her words finished, commotion came from outside.

“What’s going on? What’s going on? I heard you actually let a woman into the barracks! Are you all tired of living?”

A clear male voice shouted, accompanied by others’ agreement.

“I understand you’re suffering from your injuries, but you can’t act recklessly…” the voice continued, accompanied by footsteps approaching this building.

“Officer Jiang, we’re not acting recklessly. The people from the medical camp can’t cure us. We’re just seeking a way to live.”

“What way to live! A woman is going to give you a way to live? What a joke!”

“Sir, sir, we’re really not joking. This lady is a divine physician!”

“Get lost! What divine physician! Let me see how divine this physician is…”

At this point, the door was kicked open with a bang. A tall, thin man swaggered in, followed by four or five men with swords and arrows at their sides, as if they had just come down from a battlefield or just returned from eating, drinking, and making merry.

The moment the door opened, Qi Yue stood up and turned around.

All the men who rushed in felt their eyes brighten.

“Wow, she really is a beauty! And so young!”

“Come on, I won, pay up, pay up…”

The men immediately started laughing and joking, but the man who had led them in was struck as if by lightning and froze instantly.

This couldn’t be real, could it?

Was he dreaming?

Who was he seeing?

Author’s Note: How many more chapters do I have left to finish? How many more chapters?