Madam Zhao had taken ill, and the hall had grown rather quiet. Against that stillness, Zhào Xiǎo’s voice was particularly jarring.

Hearing Zhào Xiǎo’s cry, everyone present turned to look toward the door — everyone except Feng Jiu’er.

She gently set Madam Zhao’s hand down and said in a soft voice, “Madam Zhao’s condition is not critical. In a moment, I will teach everyone a method of therapeutic massage.”

“So long as it is applied to Madam Zhao morning and evening according to the method I demonstrate, within seven days, she will no longer experience breathlessness whenever she is agitated.”

Zhào Yùshēng and Zhào Qīngshān had only glanced once at Zhào Xiǎo. Upon hearing Feng Jiu’er speak, they both drew their gazes back.

“Can this person’s word be trusted?” Zhào Qīngshān looked at Zhào Yùshēng, his expression still cold.

“Absolutely.” Zhào Yùshēng nodded at once. “People call Jiu’er a divine physician. If even she cannot cure an illness, then no one can.”

Zhào Yùshēng’s admiration for Feng Jiu’er extended not only to her abilities on the battlefield, but naturally to her medical skill as well.

Over these past days, the number of brothers brought back from the brink by Feng Jiu’er’s hands was beyond counting — and every single one of them had borne witness to it.

“Since our Shēng’er says so, I believe in Jiu’er.” Madam Zhao took a slow breath and gave a nod.

Her gaze drifted to Zhào Xiǎo, who had come rushing in with such urgency. She asked gently, “Xiǎo, what on earth is the matter? Why are you calling out in the middle of the night like this?”

Zhào Xiǎo had been running so frantically that she skidded to a halt, momentarily dazed when she saw that her mother had apparently taken ill. She stood still for a brief moment.

Looking at her elder brother saying there was a divine physician present, and seeing that her mother’s color was not too poor, she felt somewhat reassured.

“A divine physician?” The words recalled themselves, and Zhào Xiǎo looked at Feng Jiu’er with a furrowed brow and walked toward her.

Zhào Yùshēng and Zhào Qīngshān’s attention was still on Madam Zhao, and neither paid any mind to the young woman who had just entered.

What no one expected was that Zhào Xiǎo suddenly closed the distance and grabbed Feng Jiu’er by the arm.

When she moved to pull Feng Jiu’er away by force, she discovered with some astonishment that she was utterly unable to budge the young woman even the slightest bit.

Feng Jiu’er turned her head and looked at Zhào Xiǎo, her brow arching slightly.

Zhào Yùshēng, seeing this, immediately closed his hand around Zhào Xiǎo’s arm.

“Xiǎo — you must not be so rude to General Feng.”

“I need her to save someone.” Zhào Xiǎo kept her grip on Feng Jiu’er’s arm and continued to pull.

Yet even when she channeled her inner energy, she still could not move Feng Jiu’er so much as an inch.

Watching Feng Jiu’er stand there — face unruffled, breathing perfectly even — Zhào Qīngshān’s eyes flickered with a subtle and different kind of light.

He understood his own daughter’s level of cultivation, and it was precisely because he understood it that he recognized there was something far beyond ordinary here.

Zhào Yùshēng still held Zhào Xiǎo’s arm, though his voice had dropped to something considerably lower and more restrained.

“Xiǎo — I am telling you again. Let go, now.”

Zhào Xiǎo knitted her delicate brows, looked between Zhào Yùshēng and Feng Jiu’er, then gave a hard wrench of her hand.

The arm Zhào Xiǎo had released fell back naturally to Feng Jiu’er’s side, as though it had never felt any force at all.

“Are you not a divine physician? Then go — quickly — save my person.” Zhào Xiǎo said in a voice filled with urgency.

“I will give you silver. Only save him, and I will give you everything I own.”

“Xiǎo — who has been injured?” Zhào Yùshēng had rarely seen his younger sister in such a state of desperation. Whoever it was had to be someone of great importance to her.

“I—” Zhào Xiǎo glanced at Zhào Yùshēng, then brought her gaze back to Feng Jiu’er. “I have no time to explain right now. There is no time to spare.”

Seeing Feng Jiu’er stand unmoved, Zhào Xiǎo grew so frantic she could barely keep still.

“Are you truly a divine physician or not? Divine physicians never stand by and let someone die — am I right? My friend is nearly dead. Please, come and see him.”

Zhào Xiǎo had truly run out of options. Every physician in the stronghold had thrown up their hands in helplessness — otherwise, she would never have come to make such a scene here.

“Jiu’er — go and take a look. Xiǎo never speaks falsely. If she says it like this, the situation must be critical.” Zhào Yùshēng looked at Feng Jiu’er and said softly.

“Very well.” Feng Jiu’er met Zhào Yùshēng’s gaze and gave a nod.

She turned to look at Madam Zhao and said gently, “Madam Zhao, please rest here for a while. I will come back shortly to perform the massage for you.”

“For now, as long as you are not agitated, there should be no significant problem.”

Feng Jiu’er genuinely hoped to win over the entirety of the Zhao Family Stronghold — but Madam Zhao truly could not afford any further agitation at this moment. She felt it necessary to give the two men present a reminder.

“Understood.” Madam Zhao gave a nod.

The gaze she turned upon Feng Jiu’er was warm with tenderness, as though she were looking at her own child.

She was not blind to her son’s feelings — but could this young woman truly become her daughter-in-law? That, she was not so certain of.

Feng Jiu’er gave a nod in return, then turned to look at Zhào Xiǎo.

Zhào Xiǎo no longer had any doubts. There was no time for doubt.

Feng Jiu’er followed Zhào Xiǎo out, Zhào Yùshēng fell into step behind them, and Xiao Yingtao, of course, did not remain behind either.

Watching the young people depart, Madam Zhao lifted her gaze to Zhào Qīngshān.

“Help me over to see. Our son has only just come back with such difficulty. I want to see a little more of him.”

Zhào Qīngshān drew a slow breath and helped Madam Zhao up by the arm.

The others departed, leaving only Elder Feng alone by the head chair, deliberating quietly to himself.

Zhào Xiǎo walked at a brisk pace toward her own room — and what greeted Feng Jiu’er inside was something she had not expected in the least. The person lying on the bed was Jian Yi.

The moment she stepped into the inner chamber, Feng Jiu’er’s composure gave way entirely.

Zhào Xiǎo’s boudoir was spacious. The bed stood in the center of the room, its light gauze curtains swept aside — and the person lying upon it was clearly visible.

“Jian Yi.” She called out in a low voice, then crossed the room in swift strides.

“Jian Yi?” Zhào Yùshēng looked at the person on the bed and frowned.

When he made out the figure’s features, the shock hit him squarely.

“Xiǎo — why is Jian Yi in your boudoir? What is the meaning of this?” He turned to his sister, voice dropping low and serious.

It had never even occurred to him that the brother everyone had been searching for would have been hidden away here by Xiǎo.

“Elder Brother — you know him?” The furrow in Zhào Xiǎo’s brow had not eased.

The question barely left her lips before she stopped caring about the answer. She moved forward again.

“He suffered very grave internal injuries. For a while he was still able to take some thin porridge, but today he has gone the entire day without eating anything — he cannot even swallow his medicine.”

Zhào Xiǎo followed close behind Feng Jiu’er, and the urgency in her eyes was no less than Feng Jiu’er’s own.

Looking at Jian Yi’s face — as white as a blank page — how could Feng Jiu’er pay any attention to what anyone else was saying?

She sat down on the edge of the bed, immediately lifted Jian Yi’s hand, and pressed her long fingers to his pulse.

“Jian Yi — my Jian Yi — I am here. Jian Yi, can you hear my voice?”

Jian Yi’s breath was so faint that even Feng Jiu’er could barely detect it.

Yet somehow — she could not explain it — after Feng Jiu’er took hold of his hand, his breath seemed to gather itself back, just a little.

Finally able to sense his breathing again, Zhào Xiǎo exhaled softly where she stood to one side.

“Truly a divine physician.” Not daring to make a sound, she could only murmur it quietly under her breath.

Zhào Yùshēng glanced back at the people who had followed them in, then asked in a low voice, “Father, Mother — why has this man ended up here?”

“He is someone your sister brought back.” Madam Zhao’s soft voice drifted through the room. “A pity, though. By the look of him, he will not last much longer.”