If you look up to me, I must live up to your expectations. …………………………………………………… Having managed to calm the Governor and his wife, Chang Yuncheng fell silent, instructing the servants to bring in seating and a brazier for warmth.

Marquis Dingxi, the Xie family head, hurried over upon hearing the news. “What in the world is happening?

Weren’t we assured everything was fine?” the Marquis asked anxiously. He had already mapped out exactly how he would boast about his divine-physician daughter-in-law after this ordeal—he’d show all those who mocked him for his poor judgment in marrying someone of her background.

May you never fall ill a day in your lives! He had planned every detail of how Lou would finally achieve quiet dignity while remaining subtle and elegantly refined.

Was it all to end in false hope? No one answered him.

Hu San had slipped back inside as soon as the situation seemed under control. The door was ajar, yet no one dared to step in and inquire.

“It’s settled, the Young Master is here. They won’t come in now,” Hu San announced from inside.

“Get out.” A’ru, carrying a basin of water, turned sharply as she passed the doorway and snapped at him, raising an eyebrow. Snapped out of his daze, Hu San hastily apologized with raised hands and retreated.

He went to another room to change his clothes and wash his hands and face before returning. “How is it?” he asked cautiously now.

Zhang Tong stood nearby, watching Qi Yue and Liu Pucheng who were clustered around the injured man. “Not good,” Zhang Tong replied.

“The high fever won’t break, and he’s starting to talk nonsense.” Hu San felt sweat instantly pour from his brow and instinctively raised a hand to wipe it away. “Is Master terribly frightened?” he murmured, thinking how the woman hadn't known a moment's peace since taking charge of the treatment.

They had all felt a strange uneasiness about her anxiety, and now that the crushing stone hanging overhead had finally dropped, he wondered if it would break her. Whether Qi Yue was broken or not, she couldn't tell herself; for now, she felt strangely numb.

The most feared complication—the wound festering—had not appeared. No abdominal pain, no headache, no swelling in the limbs—nothing.

But why? Why was this happening?

What was truly wrong? “What exactly is wrong?

If it were Spleen Heat, these symptoms wouldn’t manifest,” Qi Yue mumbled. Elevated blood pressure, rising temperature, clouded consciousness.

Qi Yue stared at the only two instruments in her hand and suddenly felt an urge to weep. “The pulse is fine and rapid; the tongue is dark crimson, the lips unnaturally black, and the nails greenish,” Liu Pucheng stated as he took the pulse.

Although A’ru’s face was pale and her expression frantic, she quickly jotted down everything Liu Pucheng said. “Miss Qi,” Liu Pucheng looked at A’ru, then back at Qi Yue, his voice suddenly rising sharply, “Look at this girl, and then look at yourself.” A sharp rebuke brought Qi Yue back to herself.

She looked toward Liu Pucheng. “She is afraid too, but she still remembers what she needs to do,” Liu Pucheng barked sternly.

“And you? What are you doing?” Qi Yue’s body trembled slightly as she glanced at A’ru.

A’ru, her face half-covered by the mask, revealed eyes slightly reddened. She had put down the pen and paper beside the washbasin where she was wringing out a towel; she froze where she stood after Liu Pucheng’s shout.

“What are you doing? What are you afraid of?

Why are you panicking?” Liu Pucheng continued to berate. “Didn’t you know this situation might arise long ago?

It’s here now, so treat it.” Qi Yue’s expression grew frantic. “I don’t know how to treat this,” she clenched her hands tightly and said.

“I can’t.” “How can you not know?” Liu Pucheng demanded, taking a step forward. “You know how to perform an incision and suture; you know sterilization; you know how to monitor a patient and how to comfort them; you know nursing care!

Yet you constantly throw out ‘I can’t, I don’t know how.’ What do you mean, you can’t? A practicing physician encounters countless diseases they’ve never seen!

Does meeting one new illness mean you simply declare it beyond you? If you don’t know, think!

Think about why, think about how to treat it! What’s the big deal?

Give it your utmost effort. If you cure him, you cure him.

If you can’t, it’s Heaven’s will that this life cannot be saved. What is this display?

You haven’t even tried, and you’re already panicking! With this attitude, with this lack of effort, are you honoring the skill in your hands?” His voice boomed through the room like rolling thunder.

Everyone in the room was stunned silent. Since meeting the old man, he had always been gentle and composed, never even raising his voice.

They had never expected such sudden, explosive fury. Zhang Tong, Hu San, and even A’ru stared at Liu Pucheng, frozen, daring neither to move nor speak.

Qi Yue’s expression, however, slowly began to stabilize. “Yes,” she answered loudly, picking up the stethoscope hanging nearby.

Taking a deep breath, she stood before the patient and began her examination. “Heart sounds are irregular, but there is no fluid accumulation.

The high fever is not originating here. No sub-diaphragmatic infection; no pulmonary lobar collapse…” She looked toward Liu Pucheng as she spoke.

“Currently, it appears the patient is showing signs of cardiac failure,” she stated, taking a towel from the nearby basin, wringing it out, and beginning to wipe the patient’s body. “As for why these symptoms have appeared, I haven’t figured that out yet.” Liu Pucheng nodded.

“This person is in a state of Yang Collapse,” he said, shaking out his sleeve and returning to his usual gentle demeanor, as if the previous outburst had never happened. He turned to the still-dazed Zhang Tong.

“Use prepared licorice root, cinnamon twig, and fresh ginger, with Rehmannia root, Ejiao, and hemp seed, decocted with wine as a base.” Zhang Tong snapped back to attention and responded loudly. He turned and rushed to another room where various herbs and preparation tools had already been set out.

“I’ll go help Senior Brother,” Hu San offered. “Your Senior Brother can manage on his own.

Hu San, you come help me reduce the patient’s temperature,” Qi Yue called out. Hu San loudly affirmed and quickly ran over.

A’ru, having rapidly noted down the conversation between Liu Pucheng and Qi Yue, began wringing out a towel herself to place on the patient’s forehead. The sky gradually darkened, and the lamps outside the courtyard were lit one by one, illuminating the group still waiting outside the door.

Because the night was cool, Madam Xie instructed the maids to bring heavy woolen cloaks for the Governor and his wife. The couple passively allowed themselves to be attended to.

“They aren’t eating or drinking, and how much longer must we wait?” Madam Xie worried, frowning again as she looked toward the courtyard. “Why can’t we go in to see?

It’s not like they’re doing anything shameful.” “Don’t speak carelessly if you don’t understand,” the Marquis whispered sharply. Madam Xie let out a cold laugh.

“Do you understand, my Lord?” she replied coolly. The Marquis shot her a glare.

Madam Xie ignored him and carried a bowl of hot broth over to Chang Yuncheng, who was seated nearby. “Thank you, Mother,” Chang Yuncheng accepted the bowl.

Madam Xie smiled faintly. “Why did you confine several maids yesterday?” she asked in a low voice, recalling something.

“The matter of Yue Niang lies with those few maids,” Chang Yuncheng replied softly. Madam Xie suddenly remembered; the Governor’s crisis had made her forget this other affair.

“Who do you think did it?” she quickly inquired quietly. Chang Yuncheng was about to speak when his gaze suddenly stopped, fixed on the courtyard entrance.

He abruptly stood up. Madam Xie, startled, followed his gaze, and her expression instantly darkened.

Qi Yue stood at the courtyard entrance, having removed her mask. Everyone’s heart leaped into their throats.

When Qi Yue hadn't appeared, they had countless questions and things to say, but now that she stood before them, they found themselves unable to utter a single word. “The young master’s condition is not good,” Qi Yue said, taking a deep breath.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the Governor’s wife’s body softened, and she gasped out a muffled sound, unable to catch her breath. “How could this be?” the Governor lunged forward.

But someone was faster. Chang Yuncheng moved to stand in front of Qi Yue, though he faced the surging crowd, not her.

“But we will strive to save him. While the situation is precarious, it is still within manageable limits,” Qi Yue announced loudly.

“You must have faith; we will not give up. You may enter now to see, though you will have to observe from the windows, and Doctor Liu will answer your questions.” Before her words finished, the Governor shoved past her and rushed inside, closely followed by his wife, who was being supported.

The Marquis hesitated for a moment before following them in. Madam Xie remained where she was, quietly watching Qi Yue at the doorway, and Chang Yuncheng standing near her in an obvious posture of protection.

Qi Yue did not enter and did not hear how Liu Pucheng comforted and explained things to the Governor and his wife. After a while, the couple left, weeping, and the others followed suit.

The courtyard and its surroundings returned to silence, yet inside everyone’s heart, the water churned restlessly like a boiling pot. The decoction prescribed by Liu Pucheng was administered, and the patient’s condition improved slightly—only slightly, however.

He remained unconscious. Sunlight illuminated the interior as a new day dawned.

“Urine is slightly yellow,” Qi Yue remarked as she knelt to examine the bedpan. A’ru noted it down.

Qi Yue stood up and retrieved the thermometer from under the patient’s armpit. “Forty degrees [Celsius],” she announced, sighing.

“The temperature is rising again.” After taking the herbal medicine, the patient had sweated profusely, and the fever had dropped somewhat, but it had returned so soon. “The pulse is still fine, rapid, and weak,” Liu Pucheng stated, lowering his sleeve and withdrawing his hand.

Qi Yue gazed at the patient, deep in thought. She gently pressed along his ribs.

A’ru held her breath tensely, fearing she might disturb the examination. “Though I cannot see it, I believe there is fluid accumulation here,” Qi Yue stated.

Liu Pucheng also reached out to palpate upon hearing this. The unconscious patient moaned softly.

“Percussion elicits pain,” Qi Yue added. A’ru meticulously recorded this.

A silence settled in the room, broken only by the patient’s rapid breathing. “He has suffered depletion of both Qi and Yin, leading to Spleen Deficiency with fluid retention,” Liu Pucheng paced a few steps, declaring, “Decoct Astragalus root, Atractylodes macrocephala, Angelica sinensis, Solomon’s Seal rhizome, and Poria cocos water infusion.” Zhang Tong immediately responded and started to leave.

“Anything else?” Qi Yue asked, taking the records A’ru had been compiling and noticing something. “The patient’s temperature peaks in the afternoon.” Liu Pucheng looked at her, slightly puzzled.

“Meaning, he has irregular fever,” Qi Yue explained, flipping through the records again. Liu Pucheng stood with his hands behind his back, pondering.

“Add Zhimu, Mudanpi, Chedianzi, and Digupí,” he said, clapping his hands once. Zhang Tong acknowledged the order but remained standing.

“Aren’t you going?” Liu Pucheng frowned at him. “Master, is that all?” Zhang Tong asked expectantly.

Qi Yue was amused by this. “I’ll tell you when there is more!

Stop trying to be clever and hurry up!” Liu Pucheng laughed, too. Only then did Zhang Tong smile and hurry away.

The heavy atmosphere in the room instantly lightened. “Bring salt water; I need to perform oral care for him,” Qi Yue said, beginning to wash her hands in the nearby basin.

Hu San answered and expertly went to fetch the salt water. The others stood by, watching Qi Yue meticulously rinse the unconscious Governor’s son’s mouth and wipe his face.

As her movements remained steady and focused, the tense, heavy atmosphere in the room seemed to dissipate along with them.