When the night grew deep, the banquet finally ended. The disciples, drunk and unsteady, helped each other along as they departed with laughter and noise.

“The sobering soup is here,” A’Ru said.

Qi Yue extended her hand to take it.

“Aren’t there servants for this? Why should you do such work?” Zhou Maochun said from the side.

Qi Yue smiled with pursed lips, responded with agreement, and indeed handed the sobering soup to a servant.

Chang Yuncheng was quite drunk, eyes and mouth closed, refusing to drink.

The servant was somewhat at a loss.

“Ha! Not being able to open one’s mouth is common for us,” Zhou Maochun stood up from his chair, rolling up his sleeves with excitement. “Bring a long-spouted pot to pour it in.”

Chang Yuncheng’s eyebrows twitched, and Qi Yue quickly laughed while stopping him.

“If he’s drunk, then he’s drunk. It’s no matter if he doesn’t drink this. Father, you should go rest,” she said.

“How can that be proper? There’s still a guest here, I cannot be too discourteous,” Zhou Maochun said.

Discourteous? You old man probably don’t know what discourteous means in your entire life…

Here Zhou Maochun began shouting for people again, wanting to have Chang Yuncheng carried to a carriage and sent away.

“Old Master, the Prince is so drunk, why not let him stay at our home? There’s no one to attend to him if he goes back, and if something happens…” A’Hao said.

“This drunk? Oh, you silly girl, this is what you call drunk for him? He’s been much more drunk than this before, and he was still alone, didn’t see him die,” Zhou Maochun glared and shouted.

Chang Yuncheng opened his eyes, stood up from the chair, said nothing, and lifted his feet to walk.

The people in the room were startled and didn’t react immediately.

“Look, look, isn’t he perfectly fine?” Zhou Maochun shouted, waving his sleeve with a snort. “Playing this game in front of me – I’m not some foolish eighteen-year-old girl!”

Qi Yue hurriedly followed to see him out, couldn’t help but laugh behind him, and reminded him to walk slowly since he got up so suddenly.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t turn around or stop, but reached out to grab her hand and led her outside.

“Don’t be angry with him either,” Qi Yue laughed, quickening her pace to catch up and walk beside him. “You’ve given him quite a hard time, let him vent his anger.”

Chang Yuncheng made a muffled grunt.

“Why did you deceive him for no reason?” Qi Yue laughed again.

“Who told him to say he’d arrange a marriage for you,” Chang Yuncheng said.

Qi Yue laughed and reached up to touch his eyebrows.

Chang Yuncheng reached out to embrace her.

Heavy coughing sounds came from the house.

Qi Yue laughed and pushed him away.

“Go back quickly,” she said.

Chang Yuncheng let out a heavy sigh, but finally kissed her on the face before reluctantly leaving.

Seeing Qi Yue return, Zhou Maochun nodded with satisfaction, thinking it was indeed good to have acknowledged a daughter who was easy to talk to – otherwise he really would have had no way to handle things. Now it was good, he had that scoundrel boy firmly in his grasp. He went to sleep happily, already somewhat eagerly anticipating seeing Chang Yuncheng again to continue tormenting and troubling him.

The Guard Commander’s wife had been restless at home, unable to sleep day and night. When she finally learned that Miss Qi had returned, she hurriedly prepared and came early in the morning to pay respects and apologize.

“The mistress has gone out,” A’Hao, who was guarding the door, said.

This early?

Had she really gone out or was she deliberately avoiding the visit?

The Guard Commander’s wife was somewhat suspicious and couldn’t help but peer inside.

She saw many people in the courtyard busy moving or carrying things.

“…Senior Brother, where should this be placed?”

“…Senior Brother, that room won’t work, it needs to be cleaned again, the mold won’t cultivate properly…”

It was chaotic and lively – were they preparing for the New Year?

“Hey, she’s really not here. My mistress is very busy,” A’Hao was displeased with this lady’s prying and said.

The Guard Commander’s wife hurriedly withdrew her gaze.

“Then I wonder what I could help with?” Though she was frustrated that she, a dignified Guard Commander’s wife, couldn’t even enter the door, thinking that this woman had received an imperial edict and would have an audience with the emperor, she still smiled and said, “The mistress is unfamiliar with people and places here.”

A’Hao looked at her and giggled.

“Then are you familiar with medicine?” she asked.

Medicine?

The Guard Commander’s wife’s eyes widened.

“You’re looking for hemostatic medicine?” Liu Pucheng asked.

Qi Yue nodded. At this time, they were already standing in front of a medicine shop.

“Besides the anesthetic that master can make, the penicillin that I can make, there’s also a hemostatic medicine – these are the three treasures of battlefield first aid,” she said.

“What medicine?” Zhou Maochun asked hurriedly, with some nervousness, excitement, and curiosity.

“Panax notoginseng,” Qi Yue said.

Zhou Maochun couldn’t help but look deflated, and Liu Pucheng also laughed.

“I thought it was something precious,” Zhou Maochun waved his hand dismissively with lost interest. “Why look for a medicine shop? The military physicians have plenty of it.”

This time it was Qi Yue’s turn to be surprised.

Ah, it seemed she wouldn’t be showing off this time…

“That’s right, the hemostatic medicine used now is panax notoginseng,” Liu Pucheng also said.

“You mean those medicinal powders the military medical camp uses?” Qi Yue asked.

Having personally participated in battlefield rear medical assistance for the wounded, she had naturally seen them.

Liu Pucheng nodded.

“But, but the effect is too poor,” Qi Yue shook her head in surprise. “It’s completely not displaying the effect it should have.”

“What effect should it have?” Liu Pucheng asked.

Zhou Maochun had already lost interest and wandered off to one side.

“The supreme effect of Yunnan Baiyao,” Qi Yue said. “It can even stop major arterial bleeding.”

Liu Pucheng had seen arterial bleeding and naturally understood what kind of danger that was. Hearing her say this, he was immediately astonished.

Such an effect!

“But I don’t know how its components are developed to this extreme,” Qi Yue frowned and sighed again.

“But such medicine does exist, doesn’t it?” Liu Pucheng asked.

Qi Yue nodded.

“Then that’s fine,” Liu Pucheng nodded. “We’ll search for it one by one.”

“I know several of the ingredients. As for how to combine them, the proportions and such, I’ll have to trouble you, teacher,” Qi Yue said, then hurriedly reminded him, “But you’re not allowed to experiment on yourself again. We can use animal experiments.”

Liu Pucheng laughed, knowing this woman still remembered the anesthetic incident from before, and nodded in agreement.

The two entered the medicine shop.

The Guard Commander’s wife went for several days in a row, all returning disappointed.

“They say she went looking for medicine. Is she sick?” she said to the Guard Commander. “But if she’s sick, how can she still run around outside all day?”

The more she spoke, the more uneasy she became.

“Sir, is she still holding a grudge against us and won’t see us?”

The Guard Commander stroked his beard thoughtfully, also somewhat uncertain.

“I don’t think so. She seems genuinely busy,” he said.

“Busy with what? She’s a… a… woman, and she’s the Prince’s beloved. She should just enjoy peace and happiness. What could she be busy with?” the Guard Commander’s wife asked in confusion.

“I heard the Prince say she’s busy preparing to save lives,” the Guard Commander said.

“Save lives?” The Guard Commander’s wife was even more confused.

“From what I heard, it seems she’s still concerned about the military medical camp,” the Guard Commander said, lowering his voice.

The matter of Miss Qi and the military physicians was now known to everyone. After all, a woman who, though not currently dignified but had been and would certainly be dignified as a Prince’s wife, was mocked and ridiculed by a group of military physicians and taken to the military medical camp, even serving wounded soldiers at the battlefield rear – anyone who heard this would be shocked. This was truly a rare occurrence in a hundred years, something even opera writers couldn’t imagine.

Compared to such an incident, his own failure to sell a cook and consequent coldness toward her was completely insignificant.

The Guard Commander’s wife breathed a sigh of relief.

That was wonderful. Whether others were unlucky or not didn’t concern her, as long as she wasn’t unlucky herself.

The Guard Commander’s wife later had people quietly investigate, and indeed heard that the woman was still very busy, going out early and returning late, and had bought many things to send home – strange items like wooden cabinets, earthenware pots, iron woks, all sorts of miscellaneous things, almost making more than half the merchants in the garrison city earn a great deal of money before the New Year. As a result, the whole city thanked heaven for sending them a wealth-bringing lady during the New Year season.

The New Year arrived in this strange yet joyful atmosphere. Though rejected many times, the Guard Commander’s wife still came to deliver New Year gifts, and this time she finally saw Miss Qi.

Looking at the woman standing in the main hall, the Guard Commander’s wife couldn’t help but be dazzled, and understood why the Prince still couldn’t forget this woman after the divorce. Who could forget such a beauty?

“Thank you, Madam. I’ve truly been very busy, please forgive any discourtesy,” Qi Yue said, while having A’Ru present the return gifts.

She speaks quite reasonably, though one couldn’t tell how much was genuine and how much was false. The Guard Commander’s wife hurriedly smiled and returned the courtesy, casually glancing at the return gift list handed over, and was immediately shocked.

This… this return gift list was much more lavish than her own gift list!

This woman, so wealthy?

It must be from the Prince, right?

Really quite generous!

“I don’t know what you might like, Madam. Our border area is poor, and we don’t have anything good. If you want anything, please don’t hesitate to ask,” the Guard Commander’s wife said anxiously.

Qi Yue looked at her and nodded.

“Then, if Madam has any moldy, rotten things, please send them to me,” she said. “The more the better.”

Moldy, rotten things?!

The Guard Commander’s wife immediately widened her eyes, too astonished to speak.

Although the Guard Commander’s wife was very surprised, this woman was clearly not joking. As the New Year gradually approached, the strange items sent to that woman’s house didn’t stop, but increased, and eventually even included live animals like pigs, sheep, cats, dogs, and rabbits, arousing great curiosity throughout the city. The New Year atmosphere became even more lively because of this, since opportunities to see strange things were too rare in this border region.

At this time, the New Year atmosphere in the capital was even more intense, and even the imperial palace was no exception.

The emperor was also trying on new clothes in the great hall, with plump eunuchs bustling about.

“Oh my, Your Majesty, you look so good in this red,” they said with smiles. “From now on, don’t always wear those azure and blue ones.”

The emperor smiled without speaking, looking at himself in the mirror and raising his eyebrows.

Clothes should complement the person, not the person complement the clothes.

Some people could display authority no matter what they wore, just like that woman who walked out from Elder Li’s doorway.

The emperor smiled at his sudden thought.

During the New Year, the court ladies would all enter the palace, perhaps there would be a chance to see her.

For the first time, the emperor felt some interest in the New Year.

“Oh right, Zhou Maochun ran off to Gansu, saying he found that Miss Qi?” he asked, remembering something.

The eunuchs hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, Your Majesty, they say he’s very happy there…” they said one after another.

This news naturally wasn’t asked about personally by the emperor, but was information these eunuchs obtained through spy networks.

The emperor sat down and accepted the hot tea presented by a palace maid.

“Then he’s gotten his wish. No wonder he won’t even come back for the New Year,” he said, while drinking tea.

“Yes, they say he even has a daughter now,” a eunuch said.

The emperor spat out a mouthful of tea.