Partly because a beating was a common occurrence for servants, requiring no great fuss, and partly because it was difficult for a male servant to enter the rear courtyard, he hesitated, dragging his feet until, gathering his courage, he requested an audience. To his surprise, the supervising matron was unusually agreeable, leaving Ah Hao's father both astonished and delighted. Still, the way those matrons looked at him sent a chill down his spine...

"Go on, go on, fetch her out quickly..." they said, shaking their heads.

Did this mean he wouldn't be allowed back into the Autumn Willow Courtyard? Well, that might be for the best; the Autumn Willow Courtyard wasn't exactly a pleasant place, Ah Hao's father mused internally.

It was already the afternoon. Standing outside the door, he felt as if the Autumn Willow Courtyard held no living soul.

Ah Hao's father shivered, then quickly raised his hand and gently slapped his own cheek.

He raised his hand again and tapped lightly on the door. After quite a long while, he heard movement inside.

"Uncle, you've come," Ah Ru said as she opened the door.

Seeing Ah Ru's deathly pale face, her eyes swollen and bloodshot, Ah Hao's father was startled.

"Her mother isn't here... she's truly been troubled by the young mistress," he said, brimming with apology.

Ah Ru sighed.

"Uncle, perhaps you should visit again tomorrow? Today... we're... disinfecting... to prevent infection... it's inconvenient." She struggled to articulate those strange words, and indeed, she saw a look of utter bewilderment on Ah Hao's father's face.

"Then I'll come another day. Tell her mother I asked for leave for her. If not, just take Ah Hao and stay here; don't cause more trouble for the young mistress and young miss," Ah Hao's father decided against asking further, merely nodding.

"Alright, I will," Ah Ru replied. Watching Ah Hao's father walk away, she gently closed the door and tiptoed back into the room, where she saw Qi Yue standing inside.

"Young Mistress, you should be resting a little longer..." she whispered hurriedly.

Qi Yue stooped to check Ah Hao's temperature, pulse, and breathing, then lifted the blanket to examine her abdomen.

"Young Mistress, as you instructed, I checked her temperature a quarter of an hour ago..." Ah Ru whispered, glancing at the strange device resting nearby—the one called a thermometer. "It's... it's thirty-seven... point three..."

After performing the surgery the night before, Qi Yue had stayed awake all night, only retiring when daylight broke, at Ah Ru's earnest pleading. Before leaving, she had taught Ah Ru how to check the temperature, and Ah Ru had managed, with effort, to learn to record those unfamiliar counting numbers.

"Slightly elevated, but normal," Qi Yue let out a breath of relief. "If Ah Hao wakes up again, shift her position..."

Ah Ru nodded.

Ah Hao's mother entered from outside, holding a wine bottle.

"Young Mistress... this is ready..." she said to Qi Yue, regarding her with a degree of awe.

Qi Yue took it and inserted an antibiotic into it.

This was a makeshift drip apparatus, fashioned from a syringe, a rubber tube normally used for tying off a limb, and filled with saline solution—water that was definitely substandard upon inspection, but better than nothing for replenishing Ah Hao's fluids.

"Young Mistress, is Ah Hao...?" Ah Hao's mother couldn't help but ask softly.

"We need to observe her a while longer. If there is no infection and no further bleeding, Ah Hao will have passed the first hurdle," Qi Yue said, inserting the needle into Ah Hao's arm while hanging the wine bottle on a temporary makeshift clothes rack. "Luckily, her injuries weren't too severe; no amputation was necessary..."

Ah Hao's mother, however, looked at her daughter's pained face and placed no credence in Qi Yue's words. The scene from the previous night, when her belly had been cut open, had been far too horrifying... and now the strange tubes inserted into her daughter were even more terrifying...

But what choice did they have? This was the fate of a servant... belonging to neither the living nor the dead, merely a plaything for the masters.

Though she spoke easily, Qi Yue felt far from relaxed. Everything she had learned and was accustomed to involved surgery in an operating room, surrounded by various monitoring instruments, and aided by countless antibiotics and drugs. Away from that environment, she felt as tentative as a child learning to walk, truly uncertain of the success rate.

By evening, Ah Hao was fully conscious. She was injured front and back, and the surgical incision throbbed with pain. Lying on her stomach was agony, as was lying on her back; she was suffering intensely.

Ah Hao's mother was so overjoyed she nearly fainted again. Not daring to look at the opened abdomen, she was astonished that her daughter was actually alive and kept bowing repeatedly before Qi Yue.

Ah Ru was the same. Although she had pleaded with Qi Yue, it had been the desperate act of someone grasping at straws; she hadn't held out much hope, yet...

"Suffering is better than being dead," Ah Hao's mother said through tears.

"Was my belly really opened up? And this tube is coming out of my stomach?" Ah Hao asked weakly but curiously, showing little fear, only groaning from the pain.

"Your mother was scared to death, she didn't even see," Ah Hao's mother replied.

Ah Ru’s face registered fear as she recalled the scene.

"Ah Ru was scared too," Ah Hao said with a weak, lopsided smile. The smile caused pain in the wound, and she hissed sharply, sucking in a breath, which made both Ah Ru and Ah Hao's mother rush to check on her.

"Yes, I couldn't help at all. I originally wanted to help, but I never expected..." Ah Ru said with a slightly ashamed smile.

"Mm, I was terrified last time you stitched up your brother's wound too," Ah Hao added.

"Young Mistress treated Ah Ru's brother before?" Ah Hao's mother asked in surprise.

Ah Ru glanced at Ah Hao, and Ah Hao remembered their pact: not to tell anyone that the Young Mistress could heal.

"Mother, don't tell anyone," she urgently said, lifting her hand to grasp her mother's.

"I..." Ah Hao's mother smiled, patting her daughter's hand, then looked at Ah Ru. "Your mother isn't one to spread gossip."

"How are you feeling?" Qi Yue asked, entering with a smile.

Ah Hao smiled back at her.

"It seems you have spirit. Come, let me examine the wound to see if it’s being mischievous," Qi Yue said with a smile, picking up the stethoscope to examine her.

Ah Hao's mother watched from the side, utterly mesmerized. This demeanor, this tone of voice, and those strange instruments poking and prodding her daughter—good heavens, she had never seen anything like it... She truly seemed like an immortal spirit, and her knees buckled as she knelt again.

Qi Yue and Ah Ru both turned to look at her, their expressions showing confusion.

"Thank you, Young Mistress..." Ah Hao's mother kowtowed.

"There you go again. No need for thanks," Qi Yue said with a smile.

The two-day observation period passed smoothly—no infection, no recurrence of bleeding, and no other complications. The girl truly had a strong will to live. Qi Yue finally let out a sigh of relief and sat on a bench in the courtyard, gazing at the clear blue sky.

Is it enough now...?

Dad, I finally understand why you wanted me to work at a rural hospital...

Dad, I won't be so flippant and careless anymore...

Is that enough?

Someone gently draped a thin blanket over her. Qi Yue opened her eyes.

"Young Mistress, you should rest a while. I'll watch Ah Hao," Ah Ru said quickly, her sleeves rolled up high, her hands damp.

Since Ah Hao’s wound was painful and there was no anesthetic here, Qi Yue had instructed everyone to keep her talking and divert her attention to alleviate the pain. Thus, two of the three of them were always guarding Ah Hao.

Qi Yue shook her head.

"I'm not sleepy. You should go rest after you've finished washing up; you haven't slept properly in these two days," she said, her gaze drifting to the small courtyard where several lines had been strung up, laden with white cloths of varying sizes drying in the sun.

Ah Ru smiled, saying she was fine, and continued into the kitchen, carrying out the surgical instruments simmering in a pot.

"Young Mistress, these also need to be dried under the sun?" she asked.

Qi Yue nodded.

As the mistress and servant were talking, footsteps and low murmurs sounded outside the gate.

"Who is it?" Ah Ru put down the cloth she was holding and called toward the outside.

Silence fell outside for a moment.

"Miss Ah Ru, we... we came to see if there is anything we can help with..." a woman said hesitantly.

Qi Yue smiled, signaling Ah Ru to open the door. The door opened to reveal four or five matrons standing outside, their faces grim, their eyes darting around—the one leading was Matron Liu.

"Young Mistress..." Matron Liu began when she saw Qi Yue, but stopped short, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the numerous white cloths drying throughout the courtyard. "This, this... why are there so many white cloths..."

"Oh dear, could it be she's already dead..."

The other matrons also looked around in surprise, murmuring to each other in low voices.

"Young Mistress, this won't do! If someone dies, they must be carried out immediately..." Matron Liu called out, but her eyes widened again, followed by a shriek, "A ghost!"

The other matrons followed her gaze, and they all screamed, backing away two steps and huddling together, trembling.

Ah Hao, supported by her mother, stood at the doorway of the room. Her body was slightly stooped due to her injuries, and her complexion was frail, but she was undeniably alive.

"I told you to stay in bed!" Qi Yue jumped up from her chair in alarm. "Go back inside immediately! You can't get out of bed for at least half a month! What nonsense!"

Ah Hao was shaking all over from the pain, but she stubbornly insisted on letting the matrons see clearly before her mother supported her as she retreated and closed the door.

Qi Yue was furious, scolded Ah Hao quietly by the door for a moment, and then turned to face the matrons.

"What were you hoping to do?" Qi Yue asked.

"Young... Young Mistress... she's not dead?" Matron Liu stammered, still in shock.

"Slap yourself!" Qi Yue commanded, her eyebrows sharply raised. "What do you think?"

Matron Liu realized her slip and quickly apologized repeatedly.

"Mother, do you not understand what I am saying?" Qi Yue asked with a cold smile.

Matron Liu paused, the instruction to slap herself meeting her resistance. "Replying to the Young Mistress, your old servant still has duties over there," she said, gritting her teeth, standing up straight and facing Qi Yue. "I dare not linger. Once I finish my duties over there, I will return here to receive my punishment from the Young Mistress."

Qi Yue did not erupt in the fury Matron Liu expected; instead, her expression softened.

"Oh, then you all had better hurry along," she said with a smiling nod.

This Young Mistress's temper was unpredictable, always hard to fathom...

The matrons, having formulated their counter-strategy, now looked like firecrackers soaked in water, their spirits dampened. They bowed low and retreated.

"Look at that, they were all prepared to carry away a corpse," Qi Yue murmured, a mocking smile touching her lips. "To think there is such deep-seated hatred that they would try to take a life—and this is a human life...."

"Young Mistress, perhaps it was an accident..." Ah Ru hesitated.

The beating Ah Hao received was administered, but what proved fatal was the kick to her front.

"Even if it was a misunderstanding, it was because someone was given the opportunity to be misunderstood," Qi Yue sighed, smiling faintly. "It seems that backwardness invites assault—that is an immutable truth that holds everywhere."

Ah Ru looked at her, confused.

"Ah Ru, didn't you mention before that I should always manage things?" Qi Yue suddenly asked her.