“This subordinate guessed that the young man jumping into the river might be Xiao Qi, so I jumped down to rescue him. The current was quite swift at the time—in the blink of an eye, the young man’s trail vanished. I swam out several hundred zhang searching for a long time before finally discovering the young man who’d been washed up at a shore. This subordinate thought he wasn’t going to make it, but unexpectedly he still had breath, so I made arrangements and came to report.”

Luo Sheng listened with a chill in her heart.

“Where was Xiao Qi injured?”

“The shoulder.” Shi Huo stood with hands at his sides and answered in great detail. “It was a knife wound. The wound was very deep. Though not fatal, he should have lost a lot of blood, and combined with falling in the water, the situation was rather bad—”

Wei Han glanced at Shi Huo lightly.

Why give so much detail—to make Miss Luo worry?

Shi Huo immediately stopped talking. Out of curiosity, he couldn’t help but secretly glance at Luo Sheng with his peripheral vision.

He’d long ago heard Third Brother mention Miss Luo, supposedly the master’s sweetheart.

Originally, he’d scoffed at this—after all, Third Brother had never been reliable. If it had been Fourth Brother saying it, there’d be some credibility.

However, judging by today, Third Brother had finally been reliable for once.

The master was indeed quite concerned about Miss Luo.

“What about the person who jumped into the water after Xiao Qi?” Luo Sheng asked again.

Shi Huo lowered his eyes: “At the time, we had dispersed to search for people. When Xiao Qi jumped into the river, only I was there alone. I didn’t manage to track that person.”

The range of Jinshui River was considerable, and the manpower available for searching was ultimately limited.

Although Prince Kaiyang’s household had household troops, if they actually deployed large numbers of troops to search for someone, it wouldn’t just alarm ordinary common folk.

Luo Sheng listened quietly, touching the pouch tied at her waist.

Inside the pouch was a small peachwood axe.

Who was the person who jumped into the river right after Xiao Qi?

From the fact that Xiao Qi’s shoulder had suffered a knife wound, one could deduce that person was an enemy, not a friend.

Luo Sheng gazed gravely at the tightly closed door.

When Xiao Qi was found, though he still had breath, with blood loss plus falling in the water, could he really be safe and sound?

Someone approached beside her.

“Don’t worry too much. With the divine physician taking action, Xiao Qi will be fine.”

Luo Sheng turned her head to look at the man standing beside her.

Wei Han said earnestly: “I’ve investigated. Over these years, as long as the divine physician agreed to take action, the patients all survived.”

Luo Sheng nodded slightly.

The two stood outside under the corridor eaves, not knowing how long they’d been standing when finally the door opened.

“Divine Physician, how is Xiao Qi?”

Looking at the people instantly surrounding him, Divine Physician Li said flatly: “He lost quite a bit of blood. Afterwards, feed him more easily digestible food that can replenish blood, and change the dressing on time.”

Xiu Yue breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Luo Sheng with a trace of a smile: “Miss, Xiao Qi is alright!”

Divine Physician Li looked at Xiu Yue and frowned, rarely saying a few more words: “Rest assured, children have strong vitality. Injuries that look severe heal faster than adults’.”

Xiu Yue was stunned by Divine Physician Li’s sudden conversation.

The divine physician of legend, who wouldn’t even give face to imperial relatives like Prince Kaiyang and Prince Pingnan, actually took the initiative to speak with her, a mere cook?

She couldn’t say she was overwhelmed with favor—after all, as a princess’s maid she had this much backbone—but she was truly surprised.

“Many thanks, Divine Physician.” In her shock, Xiu Yue hastened to express her gratitude.

Divine Physician Li nodded: “I’ve administered acupuncture to him. He should be conscious for a while. You can go in and see him now.”

Luo Sheng and Xiu Yue walked in together.

Wei Han silently followed.

Looking at the door closing again, Divine Physician Li, standing under the corridor eaves, stroked his beard with eyes full of disdain.

Prince Kaiyang, this wooden stake, really didn’t treat himself as an outsider—watching that girl surnamed Luo go in, he eagerly followed right after.

Young people, ah—

Divine Physician Li didn’t know what he was thinking of as he let out a light sigh and walked away with hands behind his back.

The room was simply furnished, with a low couch placed against the wall. Xiao Qi lay on it.

Perhaps from excessive blood loss, the young man with somewhat dark skin now looked considerably paler, appearing weak and pitiful.

Xiu Yue’s heart ached as she wiped the corners of her eyes and called softly: “Xiao Qi—”

The young man’s eyelashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.

What came into view was Xiu Yue’s concerned face.

The young man blinked, his gaze going from confused to clear: “Aunt?”

“Xiao Qi, how do you feel?” Xiu Yue grasped Xiao Qi’s hand.

The young man’s hand was somewhat cool, making Xiu Yue’s heart ache even more.

“Aunt, why are you crying?” Xiao Qi looked at Xiu Yue with reddened eyes and grinned: “I’m fine. Aunt, I’m hungry—”

As soon as he said this, his expression twisted because he’d aggravated his wound.

It did hurt, and he could barely keep his eyes open, but he’d often been injured before—it was nothing serious.

He couldn’t let his aunt worry.

Thinking this, Xiao Qi suddenly noticed Luo Sheng was also there.

He instinctively looked at himself, and only after discovering he was wearing clothes did he relax and smile shyly at Luo Sheng: “Boss.”

“How do you feel?” Luo Sheng asked calmly.

“I’m fine—”

“Speak truthfully so the doctor can better understand your condition.”

“It hurts a bit—my shoulder hurts, my head hurts too, and my body seems unable to move…” As Xiao Qi spoke, he hastened to comfort Xiu Yue: “Aunt, don’t worry. When I was injured before, I always healed very quickly. This time will be fine too.”

“Xiao Qi, can you tell us what happened after you left the school?”

Xiao Qi frowned as he recalled.

Perhaps having just regained consciousness, his mind was somewhat muddled. After quite a while, he said: “This afternoon I ran to the privy several times and found I was running out of toilet paper, so I asked the teacher for leave to return to the tavern. Who knew that not long after leaving the private school, I was abducted by someone asking for directions. When I woke up again, I found myself tied up on a boat with something stuffed in my mouth so I couldn’t make a sound. Fortunately, when that person made his move on me, I sensed something was wrong and hid the small carving knife I carried with me in my palm…”

Reaching this point, Xiao Qi chuckled: “Boss, Aunt, aren’t I pretty clever?”

The ignored Wei Han: “…”

“Our Xiao Qi is really clever.” Xiu Yue rubbed Xiao Qi’s head, her tone gentle. “And after that?”

“I looked out through gaps in the covered cabin and found it had gotten dark. Thinking that Big Brother didn’t pick me up and would definitely be anxious, I used my small carving knife to cut the rope binding my hands. Later on, I suddenly heard very light footsteps. The curtain of the covered cabin was lifted, and a person came in…” Xiao Qi’s expression clearly showed he was striving hard to suppress his fear.

Xiu Yue comfortingly patted his arm: “Xiao Qi, don’t be afraid. You’re safe now.”

Xiao Qi’s emotions calmed somewhat as he continued: “That person looked at me, then drew a dagger and slashed it toward my neck. At that instant, I’d just managed to cut through the rope, so I desperately dodged. Taking advantage of his surprise, I pushed him away and ran out. I could hear him chasing behind me. At the time, I was only thinking of escaping from this person, so I ran into the water…”

Just hearing this, one could hear the young man’s despair and fear at that time.

Luo Sheng and Xiu Yue exchanged glances, unable to hide their guilt.

Xiu Yue comforted him: “Xiao Qi, don’t think about it anymore. Sleep for a bit first. It’s all passed.”

Xiao Qi obediently nodded. The eyes he’d just closed suddenly opened again, carrying a few traces of hesitation: “Boss, Aunt, that person who wanted to kill me—he looked somewhat familiar…”