It took Qi Yue nearly two hours to finish the four layers of suturing, as she had no assistant; her clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

The neighbors carried A Ru's younger brother inside, crowding around him curiously.

"Indeed, a physician from the Marquis's estate is remarkably skilled…" they murmured in low voices, helped clean up the courtyard, and then dispersed.

However, the young physician remained, pacing back and forth with visible excitement, clearly unwilling to leave.

"Did it hurt?" he kept asking A Ru's brother, thoroughly perplexed by the fact that the boy hadn't shown any sign of pain during the procedure, and he even reached out to lift the gauze to examine the stitched wound.

"It didn't," A Ru's brother shook his head, looking equally astonished himself.

"How could it not hurt?" the young physician exclaimed incredulously. Seizing a moment when Qi Yue wasn't looking, he snatched up a needle left aside, waiting for sterilization, a needle of strange shape entirely unlike those used by women for needlework. He observed it for a moment, then rolled up his sleeve and promptly plunged it into his own arm.

He let out a sharp cry.

"What are you doing!" Qi Yue jumped, rushing over in three quick steps to knock the needle out of his hand. She saw blood already welling up on his arm. "Are you mad! You could get an infection!"

Qi Yue was so angry her face turned pale, and she slapped the man's arm twice with an open hand.

A Ru's eyes widened; after a moment of stunned silence, she rushed forward to pull Qi Yue back.

"That idiot," Qi Yue, still furious, turned to fetch the antiseptic cotton from the medical kit. "Wipe it."

The young man, startled by her sudden outburst, had been frozen, his face cycling rapidly from ashen to flushed. When the cool antiseptic cotton was thrown at him, the sensation jolted him back to reality, causing him to blush involuntarily.

"That... how could it not hurt? D-do you possess Daoist arts?" he asked sheepishly while clumsily dabbing the wound.

"Daoist arts! And you call yourself a proper doctor!" Qi Yue scoffed.

"Doctor, thank you very much for your assistance. You may leave now," A Ru interjected.

The young physician was nowhere near ready to depart and continued to pester them when Ah Hao came running back, clutching a bundle.

"Hurry and change your clothes, then you should go," A Ru urged, not wanting them to linger.

"It's fine, I just need to observe a bit longer to see if there’s any seepage," Qi Yue insisted.

"Please hurry, this wasn't your place to come to in the first place..." A Ru whispered, her voice catching.

"What do you mean, not your place to come? If there’s trouble at your house, shouldn't I come and see?" Qi Yue said with a smile.

"What kind of home is this for a servant? What kind of matter is this?" A Ru sighed, looking at her, then knelt down. "Thank you, Madam, for your immense kindness. A Ru can never repay you even by being your oxen and horses..."

"Stop kneeling, I’ll leave right now," Qi Yue said quickly to reassure her.

"Hey, aren't you leaving yet?" Ah Hao glared at the young physician inside the room.

The young man started in surprise.

"We need to change our clothes," Ah Hao stated.

The young physician finally hurried out in a fluster, with A Ru following close behind, ensuring he was completely out the door before locking it.

After changing, Ah Hao followed Qi Yue's instructions: boiling water to sterilize the strange instruments, cleaning and packing them back into the medical kit, and also brewing some thin porridge. Qi Yue examined the wound again; there was no bleeding. She then took out anti-inflammatory medicine, pondered for a moment, left half a box, and instructed the siblings on the dosage before finally stepping out with peace of mind.

A Ru, who had been talking and comforting her brother beside his bed, tucked in his covers and followed Qi Yue out.

"Why are you coming back with us? Who will look after your brother if you leave?" Qi Yue asked, surprised.

"I've entrusted him to the neighbors," A Ru replied.

"You are the patient's family," Qi Yue shook her head, disagreeing.

"Young Mistress, I sold a deed of absolute servitude; this life is tied only to the Dingxi Marquis Estate and no one else in this world," A Ru said tearfully, kneeling again. "It is already an immense grace for me to be allowed out to check on him; staying overnight is absolutely impossible."

Qi Yue sighed, understanding the strict customs here, and reached out to help her up.

"It’s alright, don't worry. I have absolute faith in my technique; your brother will be fine. When the stitches come out in a few days, he’ll be as good as new," she said, smiling, offering the only comfort she could.

A Ru tearfully kowtowed three times before standing up.

The three exited the door. Watching A Ru's body tremble uncontrollably as she closed the door, it was clear she was heartbroken to leave, yet she turned and walked away without hesitation. Qi Yue sighed again and followed with Ah Hao.

"Mistress..." a voice called out from the corner of the wall.

Ah Hao and A Ru jumped, instinctively stepping in front of Qi Yue.

"Mistress, you are the physician from the Marquis's estate?" the young physician asked, his eyes blazing.

"That's none of your business to ask," A Ru hissed quietly. "Get out of the way quickly, or we’ll call people to have you sent to the magistrate."

The women of wealthy families were indeed not to be trifled with; they had heard tales of a young man in the street who had dared to stare a little too long at a noble lady traveling, incurring her wrath and being beaten half to death with cudgels...

The young physician ducked his head and hastily moved aside, watching the three women pass.

"I, I, my surname is Hu, and I am also a physician, I..." he couldn't help but blurt out.

Qi Yue stopped walking.

"That's right, I am a physician, but," she turned to look at him and shook her head, "I don't think you can call yourself one..."

"My family has been physicians for generations. It’s just that I don’t possess the miraculous healing methods you use. I can do things you might not be able to do, and besides, you've stitched the wound up, but whether it will truly heal or not is still uncertain..." the young physician argued, unconvinced.

"That’s not the issue," Qi Yue said, shaking her head. "How should I put it? I don't know the rules for physicians here, but from my understanding, you lack the heart of a physician."

"The heart of a physician...?" the young man was stunned. "Do you mean Yi Zhe Fu Mu Xin [the benevolent heart of a parent towards a patient]?"

"If you possessed benevolence, you wouldn't have taken one brief look from afar, pronounced the case incurable, and then announced plans for final rites in front of the patient's family when you took the case today," Qi Yue countered.

"I... my medical skills are insufficient; I couldn't treat him..." the young physician stammered, his face turning bright red.

"Doctor. The moment a doctor appears, that is the patient's glimmer of hope. If you are afraid from the start, lacking even the courage to try, how can you speak of the benevolent heart of a parent?" Qi Yue looked at him. "Young man, this line of work isn't suitable for you. Perhaps you should consider another trade."

The young physician stood rooted to the spot, watching the three women disappear into the distance. It took him a long time to come to his senses.

"Young man?" he scoffed, his face contorting into a frown. "Who is 'young man'? You aren't even older than me! And you sound more pretentious than my own deceased father. Really..."

】. div> BAIDU_CLB_LT_ID = "519311";