Hearing Liu Pucheng’s exclamation, Qi Yue didn’t stop her movements.

“Pay attention to packing the gauze,” Qi Yue reminded him, having no time to explain anything to him.

After a moment of panic, Liu Pucheng collected himself and steadied his movements.

“Remember how many pieces of cloth you’ve used, so I can avoid leaving any inside the body when I suture,” Qi Yue said.

Liu Pucheng nodded.

“Blood pressure is rising,” A’Ru called out from the side. “Young Madam, time is almost up…”

Qi Yue nodded and quickened her movements. Sweat covered her forehead, continuously dripping into her eyes and affecting her vision.

“Help me wipe the sweat,” Qi Yue said.

A trembling hand reached over and wiped her face with a cloth.

Only then did Qi Yue see it was Zhang Tong. It was rare that he hadn’t vomited uncontrollably like Hu San did when first witnessing surgery. He truly was worthy of being Liu Pucheng’s eldest disciple.

She smiled at him briefly to show her gratitude and praise.

“Give me the drainage tube,” Qi Yue said again.

Zhang Tong stumbled slightly as he turned to fetch two sterilized tubes. What had originally been one tube had become two, which had now been cut into three pieces. She estimated it wouldn’t be usable much longer. Qi Yue looked at it with some melancholy.

The things she had brought were becoming fewer and fewer. Perhaps one day only she herself would remain—no, this soul…

“How’s the heartbeat?” Qi Yue asked, having completed the drainage.

A’Ru hurriedly took the stethoscope and placed it in her ears.

Qi Yue breathed a sigh of relief. The heartbeat was stable.

After cutting the last suture thread, the sky had already grown dim. By the light of the lamp Hu San was holding, Qi Yue inserted the urinary catheter, and the surgery was finally completely finished.

Everyone was soaked with sweat, their faces pale, as if they had just come down from a battle.

When Qi Yue announced the surgery was complete, A’Ru, Hu San, and Zhang Tong couldn’t control themselves and sat down on the ground.

Though exhausted, everyone’s faces showed some relief and joy.

Qi Yue’s expression remained serious.

“Hey, I know everyone wants to catch their breath, but…” she said in a low voice, “…the real battle is just beginning now…”

What? Just beginning? Wasn’t it already over?

Everyone looked at Qi Yue in surprise.

When the courtyard gate opened, the first person Qi Yue saw was actually Chang Yuncheng.

He stood at the entrance like a door god, firmly guarding the gate. Facing him were the magistrate and his wife, along with Marquis Dingxi and his wife.

Although chairs and soft couches had been set up, not a single person was sitting. Instead, they were all tensely watching the courtyard.

When they heard the door open, the magistrate couple’s hearts had already jumped out of their chests. When they saw Qi Yue emerge, they almost stopped breathing.

“It’s done. The surgery went smoothly,” Qi Yue said, removing her mask.

The magistrate’s wife’s body went limp, collapsing into the arms of the women supporting her on both sides.

Qi Yue’s gaze fell on Chang Yuncheng. Although she saw that he had kept his back turned and hadn’t looked at her, she still noticed that when he heard those words, his upright posture relaxed slightly.

The magistrate couple, wiping their tears, were about to be helped into the courtyard by their servants.

“You can’t enter the room to see him yet. You can look through the window crack,” Qi Yue said, knowing they were desperate to see their son. This unprecedented treatment was truly too shocking—it was already quite remarkable that this couple had waited until now.

“Ah? Why?” the magistrate asked.

“Because he just finished surgery and his body is very weak. He needs quiet rest,” Qi Yue explained, trying to use the simplest words possible.

“We won’t disturb him. We’ll be very quiet,” the magistrate’s wife said hurriedly.

“Well, inside is very clean, and his body is weak. We…” Qi Yue gestured at herself, “…are not clean outside, which would be bad for him.”

The magistrate couple were completely bewildered by this explanation. Being told they were unclean was unprecedented. Everyone instinctively looked at themselves. These past two days, because of their child’s injury, they hadn’t had peace—no eating, no sleeping, no washing, no changing clothes. They had been crying and worrying, so indeed they weren’t very clean…

“I’ll go change,” the couple said hurriedly.

“Wait until tomorrow to see him. It’s really bad for his health,” Qi Yue urged. “I’ll watch over him constantly. You can rest assured.”

The magistrate couple wanted to say more, but Chang Yuncheng stepped forward and looked at them.

“Then, then we’ll look through the window,” the magistrate immediately said.

Qi Yue nodded and stepped aside to let them enter. After a moment’s hesitation, Marquis Dingxi and Madam Xie followed them in.

Chang Yuncheng stood without moving.

“Thank you for standing there so long. You’ve worked hard,” Qi Yue said, looking at him.

Chang Yuncheng glanced at her, seeming somewhat unaccustomed to this, and raised his hand to touch his chin.

“What hardship did I endure?” he said, turning to leave. After walking a few steps, he stopped. “You worked hard.”

Qi Yue had already turned to enter the courtyard, but hearing this, she turned back in surprise.

Chang Yuncheng had already stridden away.

“Hey, I really did work hard. Thank you for understanding,” Qi Yue called out with a laugh, raising her voice.

When night fell deeply, the small courtyard was still lit with lamplight. Although they had agreed not to enter to see their son, the magistrate couple absolutely refused to leave this courtyard. Qi Yue knew she couldn’t be too demanding, so she had a room cleaned for the couple to rest.

“I’ll personally watch over him. I know how to provide care. What you need to do now is rest well. Once he passes the dangerous period, you’ll need to take care of him,” Qi Yue repeatedly persuaded.

The term “dangerous period” again stimulated the magistrate couple.

“Didn’t you say that… that… surgery went smoothly? How can it still be… dangerous?” the magistrate’s wife asked with a trembling voice, grasping Qi Yue’s hand.

“Generally, after surgery, there’s an observation period,” Qi Yue smiled, comforting them. “We simply call it the dangerous period. There might be danger, or there might not be. I can only guarantee I’ll do my best, but the outcome… I really can’t say for certain.”

These words, which were common in modern hospitals, left the magistrate couple even more confused.

“Then what exactly is this?” the magistrate’s wife cried. “Did you treat him or not?”

Qi Yue didn’t know what to say when Liu Pucheng opened the window.

“He was treated, sir and madam. The young master is only unconscious because the anesthesia hasn’t worn off yet,” he said, then called back to Zhang Tong.

Zhang Tong brought a bowl of medicinal soup and used a spout pot to feed it to the magistrate’s son. Then he lifted the sheet covering the makeshift support frame made from a flower stand.

The patient’s bandaged wound was exposed before the magistrate couple.

The magistrate’s wife immediately burst into tears, throwing herself against the window and calling her son’s name continuously.

The patient seemed to hear the calls and slowly moved his head, turning toward them.

“Mother…” he moved his lips, making a mumbling sound that only Zhang Tong, who was close by, could hear.

But this was enough for the magistrate couple.

“Those… those…” the magistrate, being a man, noticed more details. He pointed at the bandages on his son’s body and the tubes coming out of his body, asking tremblingly, “Did you really cut open his belly?”

“Of course, otherwise how could we cut…” Qi Yue said.

Before she could finish, Liu Pucheng coughed to interrupt her.

“Otherwise, how could we open the belly to repair the damaged internal organs?” he took over, glancing at Qi Yue.

Qi Yue hesitated briefly, understanding his look, and said no more, only nodding.

“Cut open the belly… really cut it open…” the magistrate muttered to himself, then looked at his son who had awakened from anesthesia—though still mentally confused, he was indeed alive. His expression was indescribably shocked.

With their minds somewhat at ease, the magistrate couple finally agreed to go to another room to rest briefly.

Qi Yue returned to the room.

“Doctor, why didn’t you let me tell the family that the spleen was…” she asked.

Liu Pucheng stopped her.

“Tong’er, go call Hu San,” he said.

Zhang Tong hurriedly responded and went to call him. A’Ru, who had gone to prepare medicine, and Hu San, who had been cleaning up surgical waste, both came hurrying over.

The door closed, and Liu Pucheng stood with them in the small alcove where medicine was prepared, looking at them.

“Remember, this time Miss Qi’s treatment of Young Master Huang was exactly the same method as treating that girl,” he said quietly.

The people in the room, including Qi Yue, didn’t understand what he meant.

“That is to say, it was just cutting open the belly to heal the wound. Nothing else—you’re not allowed to say anything else,” Liu Pucheng said again.

This time Qi Yue understood. She thought of the words Liu Pucheng had interrupted earlier.

“Doctor Liu, but this time was different from A’Hao’s case. This was a spleen removal. Not telling the family about this…” she said.

It was understandable to conceal a patient’s condition from the patient, but to conceal treatment details—especially something as major as removing internal organs…

A’Ru, Hu San, and Zhang Tong also understood and all looked at Liu Pucheng.

“Miss Qi, this matter cannot be spoken of,” Liu Pucheng said, looking at Qi Yue.

“Why can’t it be spoken of?” Qi Yue asked, puzzled. She had never done such a thing before—it was unthinkable.

Doctors had to record every step of surgery in detail, let alone something as major as removing a patient’s spleen. Not informing the patient would result in a lawsuit.

“Because I don’t want Miss Qi to end up like my master,” Liu Pucheng said gravely, his face showing a trace of sorrow. “There will always be people in this world who try new methods, but such attempts challenge people’s understanding. In people’s eyes, the unknown is as terrifying as demons. My master was beaten more than once while saving people. His clinic was destroyed more than once while he was saving people. If he saved a life, he would be beaten. If he couldn’t save a life, he would be beaten even more…”

Qi Yue looked at him.

“Miss Qi, the body and hair are received from one’s parents. The matter of spleen removal is too shocking to speak of—at least, not now,” Liu Pucheng said to her solemnly. “I don’t want your excellent skills to be destroyed by endless questioning and explanations.”

Qi Yue looked at him, her nose tingling with emotion.

She naturally thought of how she would face the magistrate couple’s questioning after telling them about the spleen removal, and had prepared herself to bear their anger.

She just hadn’t expected that someone would stand up, willing to violate medical ethics to conceal this, just to spare her from facing these troubles.

“Doctor Liu, you…” she choked up slightly.

“Miss Qi, I believe in you. Everything you do is done with confidence, never reckless or impulsive. So, do what you want to do. As for other matters…” Liu Pucheng smiled slightly, “Healing the patient is your explanation to them.”