The embers in the room had long since died out, yet nestled under the covers, Qi Yue felt no cold; instead, she was warm, as if embracing a furnace.

The earlier scent of passion had faded, replaced by a gentle warmth. The two figures, holding each other close, spoke in low voices, as if they had endless things to say.

"You went looking for me?" Qi Yue was surprised by his words.

Chang Yuncheng held her, stroking her soft hair with one hand while recounting the events of that time.

The scene then was a nightmare lodged deep in his heart, untouched. But speaking of it now, it felt surprisingly easy, as if it hadn't been much of anything.

It hadn't been much of anything!

Qi Yue reached up and pinched him.

"You actually..." Qi Yue was both annoyed and amused. "Why didn't you come out? You caused so much trouble!"

"You... all said what you said... what reason did I have to come out then... if you were happy, how could I ruin your good thing..." Chang Yuncheng looked down at her as he spoke, rubbing her hand in his.

"What did we say! We were clearly refusing," Qi Yue spat out, shaking her head.

"Did you?" Chang Yuncheng looked up at her, feigning disbelief.

How had he not heard that? To him, it sounded like sweet nothings, mutual affection...

"We were talking as clever people; you couldn't understand," Qi Yue retorted, gripping his palm in irritation.

Chang Yuncheng pulled her tightly against him.

"Don't talk to clever people anymore!" he mumbled into her neck.

Qi Yue laughed, tickled by his words.

"It tickles, go away~" she pushed his head away, chuckling.

Naturally, Chang Yuncheng wouldn't obey; instead, he held her even tighter, nuzzling against her neck.

Held so closely, Qi Yue couldn't help but sense his stirring desire, and she let out a soft hum.

"It's almost dawn, Your Highness, General Wu Lue. You don't want to be discovered leaving my room looking dishevelled, do you?" she said.

So soon? Chang Yuncheng turned to look at the window and indeed saw that the night had somehow softened its darkness.

Because of the fighting, there were soldiers everywhere. Without the cover of night...

He knew how difficult it had been for him to reach her in the first place!

He didn't care what others thought of him; he feared what they would think of her.

He had already failed her so many times, brought her so much criticism, that now, besides hollow promises of never leaving her, he had nothing else to give her.

He didn't want anyone else criticizing her—not even a little!

"Hurry up and get dressed to go," Qi Yue said, giving him a little kick with her foot. Watching Chang Yuncheng's frustrated expression, she couldn't help but laugh.

Hmph, he deserved it! This scoundrel had become a lover who could only meet in the dark!

Seeing her laugh only made Chang Yuncheng more restless.

"It won't take much time..." he seemed to be murmuring to himself as he made a decision.

Qi Yue burst out laughing and kicked him twice more.

"Hurry up and scram. I'm exhausted and need to sleep," she said.

The first light of day was barely breaking, the last vestiges of night clinging on—the darkest hour just before dawn.

A patrol of soldiers abruptly halted, gripping their long spears with alertness.

"Who goes there?" one shouted sternly.

From the receding darkness came heavy footsteps, followed by a figure emerging.

A stark white stood out conspicuously.

"It is I," Chang Yuncheng said, maintaining his running posture without slowing down at all.

The guards, of course, recognized him immediately. They quickly lowered their spears, stepped aside, and bowed.

"General, you are out so early..." they said, their gazes falling upon Chang Yuncheng's attire.

It was a plain white inner garment made of cloth...

In this deep winter... wasn't it cold?

They looked closer, seeing that Chang Yuncheng carried a thick outer coat draped over his arm.

"I ran a lap and worked up a sweat," Chang Yuncheng stated, his face impassive, his gaze straight ahead as he passed the group.

He quickly vanished into the morning mist.

The guards slowly understood.

"The Lord has been drilling since so early."

"He worked up a sweat running; that must have taken quite a while..."

"The Lord probably hasn't even rested..."

"If the superiors are this diligent, we absolutely cannot slack off. Quick, let's start running!"

Accompanied by shouts, the patrolmen quickened their pace, beginning to jog along the street.

As the sky brightened fully, Qi Yue walked into the barracks for the wounded soldiers. The military doctors, already busy, were quite surprised.

"Why haven't you left?" Qiao Minghua asked.

"Why should I leave?" Qi Yue countered.

A few doctors nearby whispered amongst themselves.

Qiao Minghua glanced at her. This woman's eyes were bright, and her cheeks were rosy—hardly the look of someone separated from a lover.

The commotion caused by the man named Jiang Hai, who had rushed here shouting for this woman, had already spread.

It was heard he had even cursed the Garrison Commander to his face—a clear case of anger roused for a beauty.

It was also rumored he planned to cause trouble for their medical corps.

But there was no opportunity; they had been urgently reassigned yesterday.

Logically, shouldn't lovers parting tenderly be heartbroken? How could she look so radiant instead?

Qi Yue was unaware of his thoughts and rolled up her sleeves, getting straight to work.

The doctors exchanged glances, shook their heads, smiled, and returned to their tasks.

Without penicillin, Qi Yue could only increase the intensity of cleaning and debridement for these wounds, making the ward, already filled with continuous groans, even more harrowing.

"You're going to stitch this wound? That's too much trouble. So many people are waiting for treatment; how long will it take?" Qiao Minghua frowned.

"But leaving it untreated will cause bleeding and infection," Qi Yue replied, turning to him. "How do you all handle it?"

Qiao Minghua didn't speak; he simply reached out.

A nearby doctor immediately handed him a branding iron.

Screams echoed through the ward, accompanied by the sizzle of burning flesh.

Even though she had witnessed dissections, A'ru still shrieked and recoiled in horror.

The screaming soldier eventually passed out from the pain, and the scene quieted down.

Qiao Minghua tossed the branding iron aside, patted a layer of ointment onto the wound, and clapped his hands, moving to the next patient.

Qi Yue stood frozen before the wounded soldier for a long moment, feeling a sharp sting in her nose.

"I know a medicine that can quickly stop bleeding and fight infection," she took a deep breath and turned to catch up with Qiao Minghua, speaking up.

Qiao Minghua continued his work without looking up. Over these past few days, Qi Yue had mentioned many modern medical terms, but they had never paid attention, much less inquired further.

"Forget it," Qi Yue murmured, deciding not to press the issue. She would just do these things herself; there was no need to explain it to them. She turned and rushed toward another injured man.

"This one can't be saved," a doctor declared, raising his hand to signal for the body to be removed.

"No, no, this is hemorrhagic shock from trauma; there's still a chance," Qi Yue quickly intervened.

What?

The doctor frowned.

Qi Yue had already begun treatment. A'ru followed with the medical kit.

The doctors were pushed aside.

"Isn't she just causing trouble?" someone couldn't help but grumble.

"Has she been causing trouble these past few days?" Qiao Minghua, who had been diligently working with his head down, suddenly interjected.

These past few days...

Bandaging, staunching blood flow, immobilization...

She could do everything they could do.

But her techniques were entirely new to them.

Her scissors and blades could swiftly cut away the soldiers' clothing and boots, quickly removing protective gear...

She used cloth strips to stop bleeding too, but her strips weren't just simple wrappings; she inserted small wooden sticks and twisted them tight...

When ordering the wounded to be carried, she specified whether to use soft stretchers or door panels...

She carried strange little bottles with her, forcing them open to pour liquid down the soldiers' throats...

Afterward, everyone had checked; those bottles didn't contain medicine, but water—some secretly tasted it; it was a slightly salty and sweet water...

Although everyone was astonished by her methods, one thing was certain: she was highly skilled, certainly not acting arbitrarily.

The crowd fell silent and returned to their separate tasks.

When lunch arrived, everyone could take a brief shift break.

The weary doctors were not particular; they washed their hands briefly before sitting down to eat.

"Use this to wash before you eat," Qi Yue stopped everyone.

They looked to where she was pointing: a bucket emitting a medicinal scent.

"You used so much precious medicine to brew this, and it's for washing hands?" Qiao Minghua asked, frowning.

Medicine was the scarcest resource here; even food was insufficient, yet she used it for handwashing!

"In battlefield emergency surgery, the most crucial thing is preventing and fighting infection. I know this medicine is scarce, but you all are scarce too. Each of you can save many lives; therefore, using this medicine is worthwhile," Qi Yue explained.

"We never used to wash before, and what happened?" a doctor muttered.

Qi Yue prepared to explain about bacterial infections and such, but Qiao Minghua spoke first.

"Lady Qi is a miracle doctor. Do exactly as she says," he instructed, stepping forward first to scoop out a basin of the solution for rinsing.

Seeing him comply, the others also had no choice but to step forward one by one to wash their hands.

Qi Yue breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of gratification in her smile.

"When are you leaving?" Qiao Minghua asked, dipping a hard biscuit into the soup.

"When are you all leaving?" Qi Yue countered, taking a small bite of the biscuit—it was too hard.

A'hao quickly reached out, took it from her, and immersed it in the soup for her as well.

"What are you still staying here for?" Qiao Minghua scoffed. "Waiting for your supposed 'hope'?"

Qi Yue smiled, understanding his implication. The fighting for the soldiers was over, but the battle for the medical staff was just reaching its peak intensity.

Starting from yesterday, the wounded rescued from the battlefield faced their second life-or-death trial: infection and various complications.

"No need to look," one doctor stated flatly, his expression one of weary acceptance. "In two or three days, half this room will be empty."

Qi Yue accepted the soaked biscuit from A'hao and ate it slowly, piece by piece.

"Yes," she mumbled indistinctly, "waiting for my hope."

These soldiers with amputated limbs and severe external hematomas could still undergo surgery. Most importantly, there was medicine—penicillin, anesthetic, hemostatic agents.

She hoped Hu San and Xiao Qu a few others could quickly find the medicines she had mentioned, even just a little bit. As long as these people could see hope, they could mobilize their strength. She, by herself, could do too little in this emergency battlefield rescue.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted.

"The Lords are here!" someone shouted.

Everyone froze momentarily, Lords? Then they looked over and saw a contingent of officers in official robes arriving, accompanied by several bearers carrying food boxes. The aroma of cooked food drifted over with the whistling north wind.

Qi Yue immediately spotted Chang Yuncheng walking among them, clad in a military general's uniform and bearing imposing armour.

Qi Yue couldn't help but purse her lips, smiling as she recalled him sneaking out in the middle of the night, carrying his armour while wearing only his inner clothes.

"Everyone has worked hard. This is the feast specially prepared by the General to reward you all. Come, come, eat meat instead of just those hard biscuits and thin soup!" a soldier loudly urged.

This treatment was unprecedented. The military doctors and auxiliary troops were overjoyed, offering repeated thanks before queuing up to receive their rations.

A'hao winked at Chang Yuncheng, then mischievously raised an eyebrow at Qi Yue before happily joining the queue.

Chang Yuncheng stood behind the speaker, his gaze seeming to drift casually over, yet it locked unerringly onto Qi Yue's line of sight. When he saw the teasing smile on her lips, the corner of his own mouth curved upward. The moving crowd quickly separated them from each other's view.

Sorry for the lack of stored content coinciding with writer's block and an upcoming inspection by the unit. I will adjust as quickly as possible! My apologies. RS