Freshly ordered tea soup and steamed cakes were brought in.

“Young Master, Madam, there’s a vendor outside selling apricot slices. Would you like a plate?” the waiter asked with a smile.

This type of better tea shop didn’t allow basket vendors to enter, but the waiters would take on some private business.

“Sure,” Qi Yue nodded, glanced at Chang Yuncheng, and asked the waiter, “Do you have any meat dishes?”

The waiter was delighted.

This man had rented this private room – first a eunuch came who didn’t order food, then a woman came who still didn’t order anything substantial. The waiter had thought they weren’t generous customers, but it turned out they simply hadn’t started eating yet.

“Yes, yes,” the waiter nodded eagerly. “We have roasted pork skin, it’s the most famous in all of the capital…”

Qi Yue nodded.

Chang Yuncheng waved his hand at the waiter.

The waiter cheerfully acknowledged the order, and soon all the requested food was brought and arranged on the table.

“Can’t you eat well in the palace?” Chang Yuncheng asked, watching Qi Yue prepare for a hearty meal.

“Not at all,” Qi Yue laughed, pausing with her chopsticks before starting to eat. “The food is very good. How could imperial cuisine be poor?”

After speaking, she was about to eat when she saw Chang Yuncheng still watching her.

“Huh?” she questioned.

“Don’t you have something more to say?” Chang Yuncheng asked, coughing and sitting up straight.

Qi Yue looked at him.

“…Oh,” she laughed in realization, also coughed, and smiled at Chang Yuncheng with narrowed eyes. “However, no matter how good the food is, without you accompanying me, it doesn’t taste good.”

Only then did Chang Yuncheng nod.

“Then eat quickly,” he said.

Qi Yue laughed heartily.

“What time do you leave tomorrow?” she asked after eating a few bites.

“I’ll leave in the morning,” Chang Yuncheng said. “It’s too early, don’t come to see me off.”

Qi Yue nodded.

“Alright,” she answered readily. “After I finish with Little Prince Sima and the pharmaceutical factory matters, I’ll come over.”

“Don’t rush,” Chang Yuncheng said. “After I arrive, I’ll find a good place to stay in a nearby city.”

He smiled at this.

“Just make it in time for New Year,” he said. “But I don’t have much money left. The furniture, servants, and such will have to depend on you, my lady.”

Qi Yue was taking a sip of tea soup and nearly spat it out upon hearing this.

“No money,” she said, raising her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth. She stared at Chang Yuncheng and pointed around them. “No money, yet you, young master, still come to this kind of place for breakfast! You could have just bought a steamed cake from a street vendor.”

“Although I’m yesterday’s yellow flowers in the setting sun, I still need to eat a decent meal, right? Everyone in the capital is waiting to see me make a fool of myself. How can I let them have their way?” Chang Yuncheng said with a straight face, picking up a piece of meat and throwing it in his mouth to chew fiercely. “You’re paying for this meal.”

Qi Yue laughed loudly.

After eating, they walked out of the tea shop.

“Shall I escort you?” Chang Yuncheng said, looking toward the palace.

Qi Yue nodded.

Chang Yuncheng stepped forward.

“Where’s your horse?” Qi Yue asked.

“No money, so I pawned it,” Chang Yuncheng said, walking straight ahead without looking back.

Qi Yue couldn’t stop laughing and caught up with him.

“Are the clothes and necessities for over there all prepared?”

They chatted while walking.

Chang Yuncheng nodded.

“Mother prepared everything,” he said.

“Your mother must be very sad,” Qi Yue turned to look at him and asked.

Chang Yuncheng nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment, then said no more. Qi Yue didn’t ask further.

The streets were already crowded with people. The two walked through the crowds. Logically, they should have had much to say before parting, but they didn’t say much, just occasionally exchanging various trivial daily reminders. Soon they had reached the imperial street.

There were very few people here.

Chang Yuncheng stopped.

“Go on,” he said.

“Then I won’t see you off,” Qi Yue said.

“Go on, go on,” Chang Yuncheng waved his hand.

Qi Yue looked at him with a smile, nodded, waved at him, then turned and slowly walked toward the palace. She didn’t look back the entire way until she handed over her entry pass at the palace gate, when she finally looked back.

That man was still standing in the same place, looking straight over at her.

Qi Yue waved again and turned to enter.

Seeing the Emperor stop walking, the eunuch behind him quickly raised his hand, and the line of following eunuchs and palace maids all stopped.

A few steps away on the platform below, a young eunuch was leading that woman past.

The woman walked with her head down, looking dispirited.

“Oh my, Miss Qi has finally returned,” a eunuch couldn’t help but say. “They’ve been making a fuss over there for half the day.”

The Emperor said nothing, watching the woman turn down a corridor.

The sickroom converted from the Empress Dowager’s bedroom was very lively.

“…Are you all dead? Think of something quickly!”

“…This is going to hurt him to death…”

“…That An fellow, don’t you dare come near our Little Prince…”

“…Old white-hair, I’m talking to you, stop playing dumb…”

“…Are you imperial physicians all useless?…”

“…Where’s Miss Qi? Where’s Miss Qi? Did she run away because she can’t cure him?”

Qi Yue pushed open the door with a bang.

This sudden sound startled everyone in the room, and they all looked over.

“What’s all this noise? Who let you in here?” Qi Yue swept her gaze over the Sima family members in the room and asked with a frown. “Who let you make loud noises in the sickroom?”

“You…” A man from the Sima family came to his senses and was about to speak with some anger.

“You what? You think you’re in the right?” Qi Yue interrupted him and asked, pointing at him from head to toe. “Have you been disinfected? Are you wearing isolation clothes? You just go in and out of your Little Prince’s sickroom like this? Do you know how dirty you are?”

The man was stunned by her words. Dirty?!

He couldn’t help but look down at himself.

This was a freshly changed robe, made of the finest silk, in the latest style…

Although he was worried about the Little Prince’s illness, he had bathed last night…

“Do you know how many bacteria are on your hands, body, and in the air you breathe out?” Qi Yue continued, then pointed at the others.

The others, especially the women, became more nervous and looked down at themselves.

How outrageous! To say they were dirty!

You, you’re the dirty one!

“All of you, get out! If you dare to barge in like this again, carry your Little Prince and get lost,” Qi Yue shouted.

“You, you, if our Little Prince…” The Sima family members were furious and speechless, also pointing at Qi Yue.

“What about me?” Qi Yue’s voice overwhelmed his, and she laughed coldly. “If I can’t cure your Little Prince, my corpse will have to be carried out, right?”

“Good that you know,” the man said hatefully.

This time Qi Yue didn’t interrupt him, but stepped forward several steps to size up the man.

If it were any other time, having such a beautiful woman look at him this way would make any man proud. But now, he only felt prickly all over.

“Who are you? An immortal? A demon? Buddha? The King of Hell?” Qi Yue laughed. “Since you’re so capable, why do you need to find a doctor? You can just shout at your Little Prince yourself! You tell him to live and he lives – how impressive! If he’s cured, it’s because you’re blessed, because you’re fortunate people blessed by heaven. If he can’t be cured, it becomes my fault? You want to take my life for his? How dare you even think such a thing! I’m telling you, I’m a doctor. Treating illness is our duty, not a crime. If we cure someone, it’s our skill. If we can’t cure them, it’s their fate!”

The Sima family members were all dumbfounded. Even Little Prince Sima’s cries of pain from the next room stopped.

“Aren’t you leaving yet? If you won’t leave,” Qi Yue said, raising her hand and waving. “Doctors, let’s go. Leave this to them.”

She indeed stepped forward as she spoke.

This wicked woman!

The Sima family members trembled with rage.

It was at this moment that the Emperor arrived. Without announcement, he simply stood at the doorway, watching the two confronting sides in the room.

Only then did everyone come to their senses and pay their respects.

“Leave,” the Emperor said simply.

The Sima family members naturally understood what this meant. They bowed their heads in acknowledgment of their wrongdoing and kowtowed before filing out.

“Also,” Qi Yue spoke up again.

Cai Zhong quickly gave her a look – the Emperor had already spoken, so you should stop talking.

Qi Yue naturally didn’t see this.

“In the future, don’t let me see or hear you mistreating my disciples,” she said, looking at the Sima family members.

Taking off her gloves and mask, Qi Yue walked in and looked at the Emperor sitting on the high chair in the main hall of the Empress Dowager’s former bedroom.

“Your Majesty, Little Prince Sima has awakened. His consciousness is clear, blood pressure is normal, and the incision shows no signs of…” she said while bowing.

The Emperor tapped the armrest.

Qi Yue cleverly stopped talking.

“Currently, recovery looks good, but the critical period isn’t over yet,” she said concisely.

“Quite a temper,” the Emperor said.

Qi Yue kept her head lowered.

“This subject has committed a crime,” she said.

“Are you also one who bullies the weak and fears the strong?” the Emperor asked, looking at the woman who stood before him with her head bowed so docilely.

“No,” Qi Yue raised her head. “Because Your Majesty is wise and mighty. Whether this subject has committed a crime or not, Your Majesty judges clearly and wisely in your heart, so whatever this subject says is irrelevant.”

The Emperor covered his face with his hand and laughed.

“You’re really…” he laughed, looking at Qi Yue, wanting to say something but unable to find words.

“This subject comes from the countryside and doesn’t understand rules. I say whatever I think. Those who don’t like me – I don’t need to curry their favor,” Qi Yue said.

The Emperor laughed again.

The room fell silent for a moment.

“After venting your anger, you seem much more spirited,” the Emperor suddenly said, standing up.

Qi Yue looked somewhat puzzled as she watched the Emperor walk down with a eunuch supporting his arm.

When he was about to walk past her, he stopped again and looked at Qi Yue.

Qi Yue looked at him.

“Do you always look at people like this?” the Emperor asked.

Qi Yue was startled. Cai Zhong gestured behind her to bow her head.

Oh right, this is the Emperor. One must show reverence and shouldn’t look directly at him so casually.

“Your Majesty, this subject feels this shows respect,” she quickly lowered her head and said.

Respect? This woman always has her own reasoning.

“If it’s about respect, Miss Qi perhaps shouldn’t forget a doctor’s duty for personal matters,” the Emperor said.

He was referring to her abandoning Little Prince Sima to run off.

“Your Majesty, actually, this subject isn’t of much use now. Everything depends on these imperial physicians prescribing medicine and taking pulses…” Qi Yue said hurriedly.

The most refreshing thing about talking to this woman was that she always knew what he was referring to, but…

The Emperor stopped again and turned to look at her.

“Be quiet,” he said.

Qi Yue stopped talking.

The Emperor slowly walked away.

Cai Zhong gestured to Qi Yue that she was being too bold before following after the Emperor.

Hearing the Emperor’s entourage depart outside, Qi Yue breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head.

“Madam,” A’Ru’s voice sounded from outside. “Should we add another layer of abdominal binding now?”

“Let me see. Is he able to sit up with support?” Qi Yue said, stepping outside.

Outside the door, disciples from Qianjin Hall were coming and going, frequently taking out prescriptions to prepare herbal medicines. Under the window, imperial physicians gathered in low discussion, and thick medicinal aromas wafted through the air.