As Su Changhe had predicted, from the second day after opening, the threshold of the Crane Rain Pharmacy was nearly worn down from foot traffic. As Bai Hehuan successfully treated common people’s difficult ailments, wealthy merchants who had previously scorned new pharmacies began to visit. Today, a blue sedan chair stopped at the pharmacy’s entrance.

A crane was embroidered on the sedan chair.

While embroidering patterns on sedan chairs wasn’t unusual—most families in Beili Territory had their family crests commonly embroidered on daily items—the crane wasn’t something ordinary families could casually use. Like dragons, phoenixes, and pythons, the crane represented extraordinary noble status. Only officials of the sixth rank and above could embroider cranes on their items as a symbol of their dignity.

A guard carrying a sword stood before the sedan chair. Seeing Su Changhe sitting on the doorstep eating watermelon, he frowned slightly, thinking to himself: This person’s failure to step aside for the sedan chair is bad enough, but how can he be so discourteous?

Su Changhe cast a casual glance at the sedan chair. He naturally knew what the crane represented, but felt no stirring in his heart. After all, he was the one who had once held a knife to Xiao Ruofeng, the Lang Ya Wang and first minister of Beili—what was this mere local official to him?

The two stared at each other for a long while.

“Pft.” Su Changhe spat a watermelon seed on the ground.

“How dare you!” The guard finally couldn’t contain himself and burst out in anger.

“Who are you anyway?” Su Changhe asked impatiently.

“What’s the matter?” Hearing the commotion outside, Su Muyu walked out from the courtyard. Seeing the sedan chair, he paused briefly, then stepped forward with clasped hands, “May I ask, brother, have you come seeking medical treatment?”

Seeing Su Muyu’s polite and gentle manner, the guard’s anger slowly subsided. “Indeed.”

“Coming to seek treatment with an empty sedan chair?” Su Changhe sneered. “That’s novel.”

The guard was startled—the chair was indeed empty, but how had Su Changhe noticed? He couldn’t know that Su Changhe was the leader of the world’s premier assassin organization, able to judge the chair’s occupancy just by observing the bearers’ expressions, let alone by direct observation.

Su Muyu turned and shook his head slightly at Su Changhe, then asked the guard, “So are you the one seeking treatment, brother?”

The guard glared at Su Changhe before responding, “It’s my master. He wishes to request the Divine Physician’s presence at his residence.”

“Oh? Visit the residence?” Su Muyu considered, preparing to decline.

The guard hurriedly added, “My master is the Prefecture Governor. Consider your answer carefully.”

“The Prefecture Governor—is the illness severe?” Su Muyu asked slowly.

The guard’s expression changed. “You need not ask about that. Just quickly summon the Divine Physician.”

“What’s all this noise about!” Bai Hehuan walked out from the courtyard, saw the sedan chair, and gave a cold smile. “So it’s an official.”

The guard had heard that the Divine Physician of Crane Rain Pharmacy was not only skilled in medicine but also exceptionally beautiful. Seeing Bai Hehuan, he immediately bowed deeply and respectfully: “Greetings, Divine Physician. My master earnestly requests your presence at his residence. Whatever fee you name, he will pay!”

“Oh?” Bai Hehuan waved her hand happily. “Then let’s go now.”

“Thank you, Divine Physician. Please!” The guard hurriedly lifted the sedan chair’s curtain—it had been prepared for Bai Hehuan.

“Chaoyan.” Bai Hehuan waved her hand, and Xiao Chaoyan scurried out carrying a medicine chest. She smiled, “I’ll go with Sister Bai.”

“No, I will go with her,” Su Muyu said firmly.

The guard hesitated. “My master said…”

“He is my medicine assistant. Without him, I cannot practice medicine properly. If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?” Bai Hehuan asked.

The guard thought it strange to have such an old medicine assistant but outwardly showed compliance. “Whatever the Divine Physician arranges.”

Bai Hehuan entered the sedan chair, and the guard waved his hand. “Lift the chair!”

Su Muyu walked alongside as they proceeded. He instructed Xiao Chaoyan: “Tell today’s patients to return another time. For those collecting medicine, dispense according to the prescriptions’ measurements. Be careful not to make mistakes.”

“All right.” Xiao Chaoyan nodded obediently.

Watching the sedan chair disappear into the distance, Su Changhe stood up, carelessly tossed aside his watermelon rind, and sighed helplessly: “Trouble.”

Xiao Chaoyan asked in confusion: “Isn’t it normal for doctors to make house calls? What’s troublesome about it?”

“The Prefecture Governor should be the highest official in South’an City,” Su Changhe said pensively. “He must have excellent physicians in his household, and what doctor in South’an City would dare refuse if he requested their presence? Yet he chose our newly opened pharmacy and an unfamiliar physician. Do you know what this means?”

“What?” Xiao Chaoyan asked.

“This illness he needs treated—all the physicians in South’an City combined couldn’t cure it!” Su Changhe said gravely.

“Ah?” Xiao Chaoyan was shocked. “Then Sister Bai…”

“Bai Hehuan?” Su Changhe smiled. “She’s the Medicine King Valley’s heir. She probably finds such a challenging case fascinating. What I see as trouble, she likely finds thrilling.”

If Su Changhe could see through all this, Su Muyu certainly could too. But he understood Bai Hehuan’s personality—she had dared to treat even the Dark River Patriarch’s illness, let alone a mere Prefecture Governor. Since he couldn’t dissuade her, he would go along to protect her. He only hoped this experience wouldn’t completely change their life in South’an City.

Along the way, Su Muyu tried to probe the guard for information: “What is the Governor’s age this year?”

“Forty-two,” the guard replied.

“I see.” Su Muyu nodded, then asked, “When did the illness first appear?”

The guard frowned. “Who said the Governor was the patient?”

Su Muyu feigned surprise. “Oh? So the patient is someone else in the household. May I ask…”

The guard realized his slip and said formally: “You’ll find out when we arrive!”

Sitting in the sedan chair, Bai Hehuan listened to the conversation outside while fingering the silver needles in her sleeve. “It must be someone the Governor values greatly.”

At the Governor’s residence, Bai Hehuan alighted from the sedan chair. The guard quietly led her and Su Muyu through a side entrance, proceeding with great caution as if afraid of being noticed. After many turns, they arrived at the back courtyard. The courtyard was quite lively, with more than ten distinguished-looking physicians arguing heatedly.

“We should first use acupuncture to regulate the qi and blood!” declared an elderly physician with white hair and beard.

“No. We should start with medicine—it’s gentler!” replied a younger physician.