120 Extra Chapter Update. Tears.

I’ve arrived in Hangzhou, and while other authors are hunched over their desks writing, I feel an intense guilt. It’s such a rare gift that you all enjoy reading this, and to not write would be a terrible waste, an ingratitude.

I’ll allow myself to be lazy only when the day comes that you no longer wish to read. I’ve thought it over—I truly haven’t been trying hard enough.

I must rally! …………………………………………One……………… Qi Yue knew nothing of the events unfolding within the Marquis’s Residence.

Today was the day the injured man’s stitches were to be removed. Although Qi Yue had resolved to keep her medical skills hidden, she couldn’t resist coming for a look.

Seeing her approach, the injured man immediately vaulted off the **. “Mistress Qi, why have you stayed away for so long?” His voice was a mixture of surprise, joy, and a touch of sorrow.

“It hasn't been that long,” Qi Yue smiled, lifting her eyes to assess the patient. “Not bad!

You’re lively as ever after just a few days. Your constitution must be excellent,” she chuckled, turning to her senior disciple who had followed her in.

“Has your master gone out?” “Yes, he left several days ago. If Mistress Qi hadn't come, we wouldn't have known how to remove the stitches,” the senior disciple replied.

“Did he go on a house call?” Qi Yue asked casually, a flicker of regret passing through her. She suspected she would rarely leave the residence from now on, and following Doctor Liu Pucheng, she likely wouldn't have many chances to see him—this doctor had left her with an extremely good impression, reminding her so much of her own mentor.

“Master didn’t say,” the senior disciple answered. “He left days ago, only saying he was going to find herbs.” Since Liu Pucheng wasn't here, she supposed she would have to remove the stitches herself.

Qi Yue turned to look for A’ru. Hu San, quick-witted and fast on his feet, inserted himself between them.

“Master, what preparations should I make?” he asked respectfully. Qi Yue glanced at the small bundle A’ru was holding; the large medical kit was no longer necessary.

Aside from the instruments, all the medicine was gone, so before leaving, she had only instructed A’ru to wrap the necessary items in cloth. “Strong liquor, the stronger the better, and boiled water with salt,” Qi Yue instructed.

“Cotton wool.” Hu San acknowledged her and happily turned to fetch the items. “Why are you still standing?

Lie down now,” Qi Yue said, washing her hands and donning a mask and gloves, only then noticing the patient was still standing. Seeing her gaze upon him, the injured man nodded happily, pushed off the ** with his hands, and settled neatly onto the bed.

“Decent agility,” Qi Yue commented with a smile. Is this what people who practice martial arts in the ancient times are like?

The injured man lay on the ** looking up at her, a wide smile spreading across his face. Hu San soon returned with the supplies.

“It might sting a little; just bear with it,” Qi Yue said, tearing off a piece of cotton wool, dipping it in the liquor, and smiling toward the patient. The patient’s gaze never left Qi Yue.

“Mistress Qi, I—” he started to say, but a large hand clamped firmly over his mouth, turning his subsequent words into muffled sounds. “Mistress Qi, it’s alright, this lad has a high pain tolerance.

Do as you wish,” the dark-faced stout man chuckled to Qi Yue, holding the injured man tight. Qi Yue’s smile was hidden by the mask, only her eyes curved upwards.

She didn’t speak again, instead focusing on her task. She began disinfecting the area, her hands alternating smoothly and efficiently between the chain and the scissors.

Silence fell in the room, broken only by the patient’s occasional sharp intakes of breath to suppress the pain. Everyone’s focus, except for the patient’s, was fixed on Qi Yue’s hands as the scissors and chain worked in rapid succession—long, slender, nimble hands… Stepping out from the gate of the Thousand Gold Hall, Qi Yue turned to look at the group escorting her out.

“Well then, farewell for now,” she said, waving with a smile. “Go safely, Mistress Qi,” the senior disciple said in unison with the other apprentices as they bowed.

As they bent over, Qi Yue spotted the injured man behind them. He was being held back by the dark-faced man, struggling to come out but unable to break free.

“Mistress Qi, Mistress Qi, my name is Jiang Hai!” he could only shout toward Qi Yue. Qi Yue offered him a smile, nodded once more to the senior disciple and the others, and then, supported by A’ru’s hand, boarded the carriage.

Just as the carriage was about to enter the side gate, it was stopped by an old man. Because this old man was known to all the servants in the residence, he was not immediately driven off with sticks.

Even without being beaten, the young footmen and the waiting wet nurses still barred his way, preventing him from getting close. “Young Mistress, Young Mistress!

Please, allow this old man to say one thing, I beg you! If I can’t speak, I won’t be able to rest in peace!” the old man cried out.

This had the distinct flavor of someone blocking the road to appeal a grievance. Qi Yue lifted the curtain of the carriage and at first didn't recognize the old man desperately blocking the carriage as the elderly doctor she had seen before.

“Young Mistress, Young Mistress, do you still remember this old man? I examined your maid that very late night…” Seeing Qi Yue’s face, the old man waved his hands frantically.

“It’s the doctor!” Qi Yue looked at him, her mind already piecing together what had happened. See?

It had finally happened. Her face instantly broke into a look of delighted surprise.

“It’s precisely you I must thank!” The old man froze at her words, the plea catching in his throat. “Me?” he stammered.

“Yes,” Qi Yue smiled with genuine warmth. “That day, my maid was clearly on the verge of death.

We followed exactly what you told us before you left: we worshipped the Divine Physician Bian Jiu in the courtyard. My maid and I prayed all night, and sure enough, the girl recovered.” Wha… what?

The old man’s eyes widened. “I’ve been saying I must reward the doctor, but I haven’t had a moment free.

A’ru, quickly, fetch some money!” Qi Yue finished with a smile. A’ru stepped down from the carriage and poured the entire money pouch from her waist into the old man’s hands.

“Young Mistress, you’re not joking, are you?” he finally regained his voice and shouted, but the Young Mistress was nowhere in sight. Qi Yue’s carriage had already entered the Marquis’s Residence, and the side gate slowly closed, leaving him standing frozen in place, clutching the money pouch, his eyes distant.

“This is impossible. Impossible,” the old man mumbled, his gaze unfocused.

The carriage entered the residence, and as Qi Yue walked toward the courtyard, she heard the latest gossip concerning A’hao. “…That old doctor was clinging to Miss A’hao, raving like a madman.

It took four or five wet nurses to pull him away,” Jū Zhī laughingly described to Qi Yue. When she heard that it was A’hao herself who had jumped out to tease the doctor, A’ru’s face immediately darkened.

Qi Yue, however, remained composed. “Oh?

He said A’ru should have died? That she shouldn't be alive?” she laughed, sounding rather unconcerned.

“Exactly! He truly went mad, claiming she shouldn’t be alive when she was perfectly well!” Jū Zhī laughed, and the accompanying maids and wet nurses chimed in with their own chuckles.

“What is wrong with that doctor?” Qi Yue waved her hand dismissively. “Let’s just find a different doctor.” “He was driven out right away,” Jū Zhī quickly replied.

“I spoke with Mama Sū and arranged for a new doctor to be selected; they’ve already gone to handle it. I also personally informed the Third Miss, so the new doctor should already be attending to the maid by now.” Qi Yue looked at her and smiled.

“Well done,” she said. “It is all thanks to the Young Mistress’s excellent teaching,” Jū Zhī replied with a graceful bow and a smile.

They entered the courtyard, where several wet nurses were already waiting to report. After they finished, the accountants delivered the monthly financial reports Qi Yue had requested.

Since they had never done such a thing before, even though Qi Yue had written out the format and necessary items herself, the reports they submitted were still a chaotic mess. Qi Yue had no choice but to patiently explain the format to them again.

After a busy stretch sorting through the disarray, she found an excuse to dismiss Jū Zhī and the other maids. Once the doors were closed, Qi Yue questioned A’hao.

“…I didn’t say anything, just insisted that I was lucky to survive. That doctor, however, had some strange stubbornness, insisting that I absolutely must have been cured by someone else,” A’hao said, her head lowered.

Upon first entering, A’ru had already jabbed A’hao’s head several times with her hand. Hearing the full story now, she still couldn’t help but become furious, reaching out to pull A’hao down to kneel beside her.

“Why don’t you ever learn your lesson?” She was genuinely angry this time. She knelt down herself, kowtowing solemnly to Qi Yue.

“Please, Young Mistress, send A’hao away. This girl absolutely cannot remain here.” “Young Mistress, Sister A’ru, I won’t dare again, please spare me this once,” A’hao cried out in shock, immediately beginning to kowtow in tears.

Qi Yue did not laugh and tell them to rise as she usually did, but instead looked thoughtful. “A’hao, actually, changing your duties might not be a bad thing,” she said.

A’hao was greatly startled, lifting her head to look at Qi Yue, her face turning pale. “Young Mistress…” She immediately choked on her sobs, bowing low to the ground and weeping bitterly.

A’ru, however, grasped Qi Yue’s intention in an instant. “A’hao, the Young Mistress is doing this for your own good,” she said softly.

“Go on.” A’hao looked at Qi Yue, tears streaming down her face, bit her lower lip, and slowly bowed her head in submission. “A’hao, obey the Young Mistress,” she choked out.

The next day, when Miss A’hao, who served the Young Mistress, was combing her hair, she accidentally dropped a jade comb. The Young Mistress became very angry and reprimanded A’hao a few times.

A’hao’s arguing only enraged the Young Mistress further. “You should have gone back to recuperate properly after being sick in the first place,” the Young Mistress dismissed A’hao with that single sentence.

The news of A’hao’s dismissal surprised many of the maids and wet nurses in the residence. “That A’hao was always so arrogant; she should have been driven out long ago…” “A’hao was sick, and even though she’s better now, she can’t do any real work.

All the other maids saw it—she was either lying down or sitting all day, acting like a young lady. What use did the Young Mistress have for her…” “Right, plus that doctor insisted she was doomed to die, which is incredibly unlucky.

The Young Mistress certainly couldn’t keep her…” “…I suspect Jū Zhī is becoming more powerful and squeezed her out.” There were endless murmurs and speculations, but as A’hao was led away from the Young Mistress’s courtyard, and word spread that she cried without eating or drinking for several days at her family home, people gradually stopped mentioning her. It was very common for a maid to rise and fall in favor near her mistress; nothing unusual about it.

“Young Mistress, Mama Sū asks who we should select to fill A’hao’s vacancy,” Jū Zhī inquired. Qi Yue leaned lazily by the window, gazing blankly at the yellowing leaves in the courtyard.

It felt like a long time had passed. Perhaps she should return to the Autumn Pine Court; maybe she could go back there.

Jū Zhī asked twice more before Qi Yue finally turned her face. “No need.

We have enough people; no need to add anyone else,” she said with a smile. There was no point in bringing more people in.

Who knew when she might suddenly leave? These girls who had caused her trouble for a while—it was uncertain whether it was a blessing or a curse for them.

The fewer there were, the better. “But that won’t do,” Jū Zhī said, bringing over a cup of tea.

“Why won’t it do?” Qi Yue took the cup, smiling. “Having the few of you is enough.

What, are you afraid of being overworked?” “Oh my, Young Mistress, what are you saying,” Jū Zhī replied with a smile. “What should I tell them?” “Just tell them to give me A’hao’s monthly allowance.

I’ll do the work of two people, and then I won't feel so wronged.” Qi Yue chuckled. “If the Young Mistress truly dares ask for it, I truly dare to accept,” Jū Zhī said, half-jokingly.

As the mistress and servant were chatting, Lán’er came in to report. “Young Mistress, Concubine Zhōu’s maid has come to deliver sweet crisps,” she said, followed by a smiling maid.

“Young Mistress, this is a box of crisp sugar newly sent by the Concubine’s family. The Concubine instructed me to bring a box to the Young Mistress; you love eating these,” the maid said, stepping forward with a degree of familiarity.