The actions of Chang Yuncheng unleashed the pent-up fury of Marquis Dingxi. When it came to women, even in his rage, Marquis Dingxi maintained an air of composure, but towards a man, especially his own son, such pretense was discarded entirely.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing? You utter idiot, you senseless fool!" Marquis Dingxi berated him soundly, while frantically searching for something to throw.

Although Madam Xie was so enraged by her son's behavior that she felt like spitting blood, she immediately moved to stand in front of him. "He was misled by that woman!

It’s all your fault; if you hadn't indulged that woman, we wouldn't be in this situation today!" she cried out. Chang Yuncheng placed a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"It wasn't her who misled me; this is what I chose to do," he stated. Madam Xie trembled violently, biting down hard on her lower lip to prevent any sharp reproaches or questions from escaping.

She could scold or strike her son herself, but when anyone else dared to lay a hand on him, her only duty was to protect him. "Why are you doing this?

Don't you know what you're doing?" Marquis Dingxi was shaking with anger and finally snatched up a porcelain vase, hurling it over. Chang Yuncheng spun around, intercepting the blow to shield Madam Xie.

The vase shattered on his shoulder before falling to the ground. "I'm doing this to show that our Marquis Dingxi Residence is not full of cowards!" he suddenly declared, his voice ringing out.

Having experienced the trials of the battlefield, when a person unleashes such pressure, their aura becomes overwhelmingly imposing. Marquis Dingxi was so startled by this sudden roar that he involuntarily took a step back.

"A bet is a bet; can our Marquis Dingxi Residence afford not to gamble?" "We accepted the bet, so we accepted it. Haven't we figured out who loses yet?

Are you scared?" "If a mere weak woman isn't afraid, what should we be afraid of?" Marquis Dingxi retreated a few more steps and sank onto a chair. Madam Xie clutched her chest, staring at her son with a measure of bewilderment.

"If we refuse to let her in at this juncture, what will outsiders think? They’ll assume the Marquis Dingxi Residence admits defeat before the contest even begins!" Chang Yuncheng retracted his intensity, sweeping his gaze across the room.

"I cannot afford that disgrace." He ceased speaking, and silence fell upon the room, broken only by the sound of slightly ragged breathing. "Then...

then what if we lose?" Marquis Dingxi asked, his voice trembling slightly. "It won't be too late to dismiss her if we lose," Chang Yuncheng replied.

"It will serve as an explanation to the common folk, demonstrating that the Marquis Dingxi Residence shows no tolerance or protection for quackery that leads to death, even within our own family." The courtyard that had once treated the prefect's son had quickly become bustling again. "You must wear these gloves," Qi Yue instructed, distributing the gloves that Hu San had fetched.

Liu Pucheng and the others nodded. They watched as Qi Yue demonstrated by washing and sanitizing her hands before holding them up.

"According to what Madam Qi said about driving away evil, I've added Sophora flavescens, Phellodendron amurense, Eucalyptus globulus, and Cnidium monnieri to the base formula for the decoction," he added. Qi Yue nodded, instructing A'ru to fetch a sprayer from the flower room and fill it with the disinfecting decoction.

"You will spray this throughout the rooms and the courtyard at regular intervals," she told them. The two other disciples who had followed hurried to nod, nervously accepting the two sprayers.

"This illness has no other cause; it simply requires large doses of broad-spectrum antimicrobials," Qi Yue stated, looking at Liu Pucheng. "Find all the Traditional Chinese Medicines that can achieve this effect.

You understand this material better than I do, Teacher. You decide on the mixture yourself—increase the dosage, and proceed with flushing, washing, and internal administration." Liu Pucheng nodded, and everyone set about their tasks according to the plan.

Night swiftly enveloped the Marquis Dingxi Residence. When Chang Yuncheng arrived, Qi Yue was sitting on the steps outside the door, gazing at the sky.

"What? Is the person about to die?" Chang Yuncheng asked directly, observing her demeanor.

Qi Yue smiled. "No," she said.

But soon... Qi Yue raised a hand to rub her face, forcefully smoothing the furrow in her brow.

Those medicines were simply not effective, or at least not effective quickly enough for a miraculous result. Oral administration naturally could not compare to intravenous delivery or an infusion...

If this continued, she was bound to lose. Lose?

When Qi Yue suddenly found herself standing in a pristine corridor, her first thought was that she must be dreaming. Had I fallen asleep?

Wasn't I just speaking with Chang Yuncheng? Qi Yue stood rooted in the corridor.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, the area around her became lively with patients rushing back and forth and busy nurses; they all passed by her as if she were invisible. Qi Yue was no longer panicking; she concluded she was dreaming, and let out a breath, looking up at the long hall.

This was the first floor, the busiest area with registration and pharmacy queues. Qi Yue slowly walked towards it.

"Dr. Qi, done for the day?" A passing nurse greeted her with a smile.

Qi Yue responded, subconsciously smiling as she looked over. The nurse had already walked away.

She can't see me, can she? Qi Yue watched the nurse's retreating back.

It must be a dream. "Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi," someone called beside her, and a hand landed on her shoulder.

Qi Yue jumped, startled by the sudden, real pressure. A woman a few years older than her was steadying her with one hand while putting on her shoe with the other.

"...These new shoes pinch; I put a bandage on," she finished adjusting her shoe, her hand remaining on Qi Yue's arm, and smiled at her. "Sister Zhang, you're on the day shift today?" Qi Yue asked slowly.

"Yeah, an old classmate brought in a relative, so I have to look after them," Sister Zhang said, linking her arm through Qi Yue's. "Come on, let's go eat..." What a vivid dream, Qi Yue thought, allowing herself to be led away.

Thinking this, she chuckled again. When did returning to modern times become the dream, while the ancient times were reality?

Qi Yue suddenly stopped walking. "What's wrong?" Sister Zhang asked, confused.

Qi Yue stepped back two paces and looked at the door sign. Western Pharmacy...

Penicillin... Penicillin...

If this dream is so real, could I... bring some back?

This absurd thought flashed through her mind, and Qi Yue could no longer control herself. She pushed Sister Zhang away and banged on the pharmacy door.

"Dr. Qi?" Before the person opening the door could ask anything, Qi Yue charged inside.

Qi Yue bolted straight for the shelves and began frantically searching. Penicillin...

Penicillin... Found it!

Qi Yue looked down at the white coat she was wearing. She immediately tore it off and swept all the penicillin boxes onto the floor...

"Dr. Qi, what are you doing?" Numerous voices echoed behind her, and people tried to grab her.

"Don't pull me, don't pull me! Deduct the cost from my salary!" Qi Yue yelled.

Clutching the large bundle of medicine, she ran toward the exit. She ignored the chaotic shouts behind her.

Qi Yue couldn't pay attention to them; she ran out, hugging the medicine tightly. Wake up, wake up, hurry and wake up...

She felt like she was running down a corridor that never ended, and then she crashed into someone, scattering everything she was holding. She didn't stop to apologize but scrambled to pick up the items.

"This is from our Chinese Medicine Pharmacy; don't take things randomly..." a female voice said. Qi Yue's hands froze.

She looked up. "Cui Xiu..." she murmured.

The woman before her offered a dazzling smile. "Qi Yue, I have good news for you," she said, her heavily lined eyes appearing even more captivating as she shook a vial.

"Look, we just got a new shipment of Chinese medicine injections." Qi Yue stared at her, finally managing to suppress the urge to smash the medicine in her hand into the woman's face. "Then I wish you good luck and hope you never encounter adverse reactions!" she said, grabbing the scattered medicine from the ground.

"Don't your medicines ever have adverse reactions?" Cui Xiu suddenly grabbed the cloth wrapping the medicine and exclaimed loudly, "Write a report to refute it! You are such a busybody!

You have the time, why not manage your boyfriend..." At this point, she smiled again. "Oh, right, he's not your boyfriend anymore; he's mine now," she laughed, shaking the vial in her hand towards Qi Yue.

"And he's the one who told me you were secretly writing reports. I hear you've been working very hard, even personally experimenting with the production once..." Qi Yue looked at her.

"He said... you're really stupid," Cui Xiu chuckled.

Qi Yue fiercely yanked the cloth back, but the sudden force caused her to lose balance and fall backward... "Bastard!" A hand grasped her neck.

Qi Yue gave a jolt and snapped her eyes open, looking up at the pitch-black night sky dotted with sparse stars. "Why did you fall asleep?" Chang Yuncheng asked, awkwardly withdrawing the hand he seemed about to use to lift her.

"You can even doze off while sitting..." Is it because she was too tired? "Since things are already this way, you should still get some rest..." he quickly added.

"I fell asleep?" Qi Yue said dazedly. This woman had only managed a few sentences before going silent, her head drooping onto her knees.

He had assumed she didn't want to talk to him; it turned out she had actually fallen asleep... She must be exhausted, physically and mentally...

Lonely... "My medicine!" Qi Yue suddenly stood up and started patting her surroundings.

"What?" Chang Yuncheng asked, confused. The ground was cold and clean, without even a small pebble—where was the bundle of medicine she held?

A dream, how could it be... Qi Yue gave a self-mocking laugh, shook her hands, and then abruptly stopped.

"The medicine..." she murmured. Before Chang Yuncheng could question her again, the woman raised her voice once more.

"Medicine!" she shouted, spinning around and sprinting toward the courtyard, vanishing into the house in a flash. Chang Yuncheng was left behind, stunned for a moment.

"You mean injecting the decoction... using...

a syringe into the patient's body?" Inside the room, listening to Qi Yue, Liu Pucheng looked astonished. "Yes, although the herbs we are using have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, their efficacy is certainly not comparable to Western medicine.

Furthermore, because they are taken orally, the effect is even more diminished. If this continues, we won't be able to control the condition, so I think we absolutely must find a way to administer it intravenously," Qi Yue explained.

Under the lamplight, the disciples who gathered around looked completely baffled. "Just like how Master used to...

replenish body fluids?" Hu San asked. "Rapid replenishment of fluids?" "Yes, that's the idea," Qi Yue confirmed.

"Understood," Liu Pucheng nodded without hesitation. A disciple nearby brought over a freshly brewed batch of the decoction.

"Madam, this is the newly boiled decoction; you can inject it now," he said. Qi Yue smiled and shook her head.

"Injecting it like this will kill the patient immediately," she stated. Everyone became more confused.

"I need to purify it," Qi Yue said, taking a deep breath. "But I don't know if I can succeed, and I don't have much time left.

Furthermore, even if I manage to produce it, I don't know if it will actually be effective, because such preparations carry a high risk of adverse reactions, so..." "So we still have a way to try, don't we?" Liu Pucheng took up her sentence, looking at Qi Yue with a gentle yet resolute smile that brought vigor back to his withered face. Qi Yue looked back at him and finally nodded with a faint smile.

"Yes," she said. "That gives Mr.

Wang an even greater chance of kneeling in the street."