“Who are you?” The woman beside Yue Jianfei asked softly.

“My surname is Long. I’m a physician.” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and answered.

“You say my father’s illness can be cured?” Yue Jianfei’s voice rang out again.

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

“My lord, this…” Yang Hong turned her head to look at Yue Jianfei, her eyes full of wronged sorrow.

At that moment, Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao seemed to understand exactly how Sister Hua must have felt all this time.

A woman like this, where even a single glance was a performance — a true drama queen. No wonder she wasn’t well liked.

“In the past six months, the people who’ve claimed they could cure my father number no fewer than several dozen.” Yue Jianfei looked at Feng Jiu’er coldly. “You say you can cure him — what guarantee do you offer?”

“If I can’t cure him, I won’t take a single coin.” Feng Jiu’er curved her lips slightly.

Now that she understood the old master’s condition and knew it could be treated, regardless of for whose sake, she had no intention of leaving easily.

Feng Jiu’er’s gaze swept over Yue Jianfei, then settled once more on Yang Hong.

“My lord, by your own account, hasn’t the old master’s condition shown no improvement at all this whole time?”

“Then why trust this woman, yet refuse to give me one more chance?”

Yang Hong’s eyes widened, a flicker of unease crossing them. “How do you know I haven’t found a way? Haven’t I been accompanying my lord trying to find a solution all along?”

“The old master’s condition has been steadily improving — why do you say there’s been no improvement at all? Just who sent you here? What are your true intentions?”

“Young Master, who is this young lady? I notice she doesn’t seem too fond of the look of me.” Feng Jiu’er asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s the quack my father brought in.” Yue Xingchen said disdainfully.

Yang Hong pressed her lips together, unable to say a word.

She wasn’t quite at the point of tears, but she wasn’t far from it either.

A physician who was supposed to save lives, nearly brought to tears by a single remark from someone else — Feng Jiu’er genuinely doubted her medical skill.

Still, Yue Jianfei didn’t seem like a fool. If Yang Hong had no ability at all, this act couldn’t have been kept up for half a year.

“Xingchen, watch how you speak.” At the very least, Yue Jianfei hadn’t completely dismissed Yang Hong.

“Miss Yang said the treatment naturally requires half a year. There are only ten days left now, and your grandfather will recover.”

“Ten days — impossible!” Before Yue Jianfei could say more, Feng Jiu’er cut in firmly.

Yue Xingchen had never liked Yang Hong to begin with, and hearing Feng Jiu’er speak this way only stoked his temper further.

“Father.” He strode over to stand before Yue Jianfei and Yang Hong. “I’ve said it before — this woman is a quack, why won’t you believe me?”

“Just look at her — besides crying, what else does she know how to do?”

Yue Xingchen glanced at Yang Hong, his face full of contempt.

“Every day, all she does is play the pitiful victim. Is she here to actually do something, or not?”

“Xingchen!” Yue Jianfei glared at Yue Xingchen and let out a cold snort.

“Father.” Yue Xingchen wasn’t about to back down either, meeting the gaze of the man who stood as tall as him. “Don’t keep believing her words.”

“Do you know — if she hadn’t driven away every physician who came through that door, Grandfather might already have recovered.”

“Look for yourself.” Yue Xingchen glanced back toward the bed and let out a faint sigh. “Grandfather’s condition hasn’t improved one bit.”

“Ten days?” He let out a cold snort and turned to look directly at Yang Hong. “Does she think she’s some kind of immortal? That she can do whatever she pleases?”

[ad text omitted]

“Xingchen, if you speak so rudely to Miss Yang again, I won’t go easy on you!” Yue Jianfei snorted coldly.

“Do you know that if Miss Yang hadn’t been using her own blood as a medicinal catalyst to treat your grandfather all this time, his condition would surely be far worse?”

“When Miss Yang first arrived, her complexion wasn’t bad at all. Look at what she’s become now, for your grandfather’s sake.”

Yue Jianfei’s words shocked everyone present — even Tang Xiaohua furrowed her brow, clearly unaware of any such thing.

She stepped forward and took Feng Jiu’er’s small hand in hers.

“Jiu’er is the physician I brought back. Yesterday she went to treat my father-in-law once, and I felt the results were good enough that I brought her here.”

“If my lord says Miss Yang can cure the old master in ten days, then we can wait those ten days.”

“Mother.” Yue Xingchen turned to look at Tang Xiaohua, his brow furrowing slightly. “Grandfather’s condition hasn’t improved at all.”

“Is not getting worse the same as improving? I don’t believe it!”

“Xingchen, that’s enough.” Tang Xiaohua met his gaze and shook her head in warning.

“Take Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao back. Everything will follow your father’s word.”

“Mother.” Yue Xingchen’s brow furrowed.

“Go on back.” Tang Xiaohua waved her hand again.

Yue Xingchen had no choice but to let out a faint sigh.

He stopped for a moment, then turned and walked back the way he’d come.

“This won’t do! I absolutely cannot allow Grandfather to be bedridden for the rest of his life like this. He loves riding horses and hunting — how could he possibly spend his whole life lying in bed?”

Tang Xiaohua paid no attention to him as he walked away. Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao said nothing either, simply continuing forward.

“Madam, are we heading out?” The maid accompanying Tang Xiaohua asked softly.

“Yes, go prepare the carriage. I’m going to personally see them home.” Tang Xiaohua nodded.

“Yes, Madam.” The maid bowed and withdrew.

Yu Jingfeng and Jian Yi had been standing guard on either side ever since Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao left the main hall.

On the road leading to the main gate, there were now only five people — three women in the middle, two men flanking them on either side.

“Jiu’er, this method of treating with blood — does it really exist?” Tang Xiaohua looked at Feng Jiu’er, raising an eyebrow.

Feng Jiu’er furrowed her brow slightly and answered softly, “Some people’s blood is special — it can help with certain poisons.”

She thought back to when her Ninth Imperial Uncle had once used her blood to draw out a poison, and her expression brightened with the memory.

“But I don’t think Yang Hong has that kind of ability. As for what her blood actually is, I can’t say for certain.”

“So this is you testing her?” Tang Xiaohua raised an eyebrow.

“You could say that.” Feng Jiu’er met Tang Xiaohua’s gaze, a playful glint flashing in her eyes.

“Jiu’er.” Xiao Yingtao looked at Feng Jiu’er, pressing her lips together. “Is it really true that taking blood from over the heart wouldn’t be fatal?”

“It isn’t.” Feng Jiu’er shook her head with a smile.

“It isn’t?” Xiao Yingtao frowned, blinking. “But you just said…”

“I said it on purpose.” Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow.

“Blood flows through the entire body. I’ve never heard that blood from near the heart is any different from blood anywhere else.”

“If she really is a miracle physician, she should know this perfectly well. And if she isn’t, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to actually take blood from over her own heart.”

[ad text omitted]

“So it was all a test after all.” Xiao Yingtao composed herself and looked away. “I actually believed it for a moment there.”

“I don’t like Yang Hong either — that woman is far too fake. She hadn’t even started speaking before she was already playing the victim. No wonder Sister Hua dislikes her.”

“Still, Jiu’er, if she really took your words to heart and drew blood from over her heart and it cost her life, that would be…”

“Don’t worry.” Tang Xiaohua gently patted Xiao Yingtao’s shoulder.

“Yang Hong’s goal is the position of Madam Yue. No matter how foolish she might be, she wouldn’t gamble with her own life.”

Feng Jiu’er looked at Tang Xiaohua again, her smile growing even brighter. “Sister Hua, you really are sharp.”

“Jiu’er, are you saying I’m dumb?” Xiao Yingtao pouted, lowering her head.

“Compared to Sister Hua, yes, you’re a bit slow. Don’t deny it.” Feng Jiu’er turned and ruffled Xiao Yingtao’s hair.

Xiao Yingtao puffed out her lips even further. “No one wants to admit they’re dumb, you know?”

Tang Xiaohua watched the two of them and let out a low laugh.

Once they’d left the Yue household’s gate, she stopped, stretched, let out a faint sigh, and looked up at the sun hanging in the sky.

“How wonderful it is to be young! Just like the sunlight right now, so full of vigor.”

“Sister Hua, isn’t the sunlight right now just like you?” Feng Jiu’er glanced at Tang Xiaohua and raised a hand to shield her eyes as she looked up.

She smiled faintly and added, “Dazzling to the eyes, enough to make people green with envy.”

“Ha ha ha…” Tang Xiaohua laughed even more delightedly.

It seemed like it had been a long time since she’d smiled this brightly. Half a year of pent-up frustration was released a great deal through this single laugh.

“Green with envy? Aren’t you exaggerating a bit, little one?” Tang Xiaohua said with a smile. “Still, I like you, Sister Hua-style flattery and all!”

At the gate, Yue Jianfei stood watching the woman laughing so happily not far away, momentarily lost in thought.

Beside him, Yang Hong looked from Tang Xiaohua to Yue Jianfei and back, then withdrew the hand tucked in her sleeve, clenching it into a fist.

The carriage arrived, and Feng Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Tang Xiaohua boarded together.

Yu Jingfeng drove the carriage, while Jian Yi followed behind, driving the carriage they’d brought themselves.

“By the way, Jiu’er, that ten-day deadline — was that also just to scare Yang Hong?” Tang Xiaohua asked softly.

As happy as she was, she still cared deeply about the old master’s condition.

“Mm-hm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “In a condition like the old master’s, treatment absolutely must proceed step by step. Ten days is simply impossible.”

“Still, he’s already wasted far too much time. The sooner treatment begins, the better.”

“Mm.” Tang Xiaohua looked away and let out a faint sigh.

“Sister Hua, don’t be upset. Jiu’er said she can cure him, so she definitely will.” Xiao Yingtao patted the back of Tang Xiaohua’s hand.

“Once the ten days are up and my lord realizes Miss Yang is a fraud, we can start treating the old master properly.”

“It’s a shame we have to wait ten days though — treatment will be even more troublesome by then.”

“I never intended to wait ten days.” Feng Jiu’er looked at the two beside her, raising an eyebrow.

“Jiu’er, do you have a plan?” Xiao Yingtao leaned in and asked.

Not just Xiao Yingtao — even Tang Xiaohua was now looking at Feng Jiu’er.

Feng Jiu’er glanced at them both, then leaned back against the carriage seat, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips…

Back at the Yue household, once the carriage carrying the others had departed, Yue Jianfei led Yang Hong back inside.

“My lord.” Yang Hong looked at Yue Jianfei with a face full of weakness, even her steps unsteady.

“Do you believe that Miss Long? But the old master’s illness really was caused by medicine — I wasn’t lying.”