A horse galloped like lightning along the main road, seemingly running endlessly without direction or purpose. Wherever it passed, pedestrians scattered to avoid it, raising clouds of dust and a chorus of curses and complaints.
Only when it reached a hill did the horse slow down and gradually stop.
The man in the charcoal-black cloak on horseback reined in his mount and looked down at a village below the hill.
“Prince!” Five horses caught up from behind, their riders panting and looking somewhat disheveled.
“Why so slow?” Chang Yuncheng frowned at them, his expression displeased.
Several men shamefully lowered their heads.
“Following me, I’m embarrassed by you all!” Chang Yuncheng said, throwing out these words before spurring his horse forward again.
Everyone hurried to follow, but fortunately he didn’t gallop fast this time.
Liu Er’s wife placed a pair of embroidered shoes at the gate of Biyun Manor, devoutly knelt and kowtowed, then got up and ran away.
“Look, that’s the mother of the child who was cured…”
“Really, he was truly cured…”
Villagers standing nearby pointed and whispered.
“Quick, go over there and burn some incense…”
“I heard if you grab some soil from there and drink it with water, it can cure illness…”
Accompanied by these discussions, people continuously approached the manor. Of course, they dared not burn incense at the main gate, but instead piled soil and inserted incense sticks at the base of the walls on both sides.
“What the hell is this?” Chang Yuncheng led his horse, looking at the scene before him and frowning as he asked.
“Prince, shall this servant go in and ask?” A follower asked quietly.
Chang Yuncheng snorted coldly through his nose.
“Ask? What’s there to ask? What kind of tricks are they playing! Do I care?” He mounted his horse and reined it around. “Keep dreaming. I don’t care what games you’re playing inside and out!”
After saying this, he didn’t spare another glance at the place, cracking his whip and spurring his horse to speed away. The followers dared not delay and chased after him desperately, causing a commotion of neighing horses and shouting people at the gate.
“This is outrageous! Go away, go away! What is this place? How dare you cause trouble again!”
The manor’s gate opened, and seeing the people by the walls, the servants immediately drove them away. “Disperse immediately, or we’ll send you to see the magistrate!”
Five men holding sticks shouted with displeased expressions.
Those burning incense immediately scattered like a roused crowd. Compared to seeing the magistrate, these people feared offending the immortal even more, and quickly ran away.
“Young Mistress, look at this…” Nanny Kang said helplessly to Qi Yue, who was walking out the door.
Qi Yue looked down at a pair of embroidered shoes that had been kicked aside, and A’Ru picked them up.
“Actually, I didn’t do anything special.” She looked at the incense sticks randomly inserted at the corners of both walls, along with flowers, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She had only performed the most basic artificial respiration. It was the child’s fate not to die, and she had found a way to treat his dehydration. What ultimately worked was the medicine Liu Er’s wife had initially obtained. Yet this had caused such shock among the villagers, making her feel ashamed.
Perhaps without medicine, she still had knowledge—some emergency care knowledge that current doctors lacked. These could also save lives at certain moments.
“Young Mistress, these were sent by Liu Er’s wife, right?” A’Ru looked at the embroidered shoes in her hand and guessed. “I saw her secretly checking Young Mistress’s shoe size.”
Qi Yue took them to look. In her many years as a doctor, she had received many gifts—money, red envelopes, local specialties. Initially, she had been excited and anxious, but gradually she had grown accustomed to it, just as she had grown accustomed to life and death, to treating illness when it arose, to having everything follow regulations—prescribed examinations, prescribed medical records, prescribed medications. She had become indifferent or perhaps coldly detached as she watched patients recover or die. In her eyes, all of this was like eating, drinking, and sleeping—nothing special.
Unexpectedly, coming to this strange time and space and doing these few small, insignificant things had brought her an unprecedented state of mind.
How long had it been since she felt excited about curing someone?
“Yueniang, what do you think the way of medicine is?”
“The way of medicine? Dad, what strange subject are you studying now? Don’t be so mysterious all the time. How about letting me assist in surgery when you have time…”
“To learn medicine well, it’s not enough to just practice technique.”
“Dad, here you go again…”
Qi Yue looked up at the sky, azure blue like a gem, unpolluted sky.
“The way of medicine is the way of humanity—people come first.” She murmured.
After these two incidents, and seeing that this Young Mistress had a good temper, bold villagers began to visit.
“This is rheumatism. Listen to the doctor and take your medicine properly.” Qi Yue said seriously after examining the old man’s leg.
“Madam, please prescribe some medicine for me.” The old man didn’t believe her and knelt down stammering, wanting to plead.
“Really, I can’t treat this, and I can’t prescribe medicine. Your condition is chronic and needs care.” Qi Yue was somewhat exasperated but still seriously considered the care and precautions for rheumatism, carefully explaining them to the old man.
The old man memorized everything as if receiving divine guidance, but was still disappointed that Qi Yue hadn’t given him any medicine.
Nanny Kang was getting impatient. If not for the fact that he was the village head, she wouldn’t have let him in.
Only then did the old man reluctantly get up and leave half-convinced, but walking very slowly.
“I say, Old Zhang San, can’t you walk faster? Yesterday you were chasing cattle all over the mountain, and today you act like you’re dying.”
Nanny Kang laughed.
“You’re so fortunate.” The old man muttered as he reluctantly took steps. “Living with this immortal every day in this blessed land. I finally got to experience it a bit—how could I bear to leave quickly?”
This amused the servants, and several male servants who knew him well grabbed him and pushed him out.