"Pry it open," Qi Yue said, looking over.

Aru gave an embarrassed smile, and Hu San, standing nearby, promptly stepped forward and forced the grip open. Aru couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath with a hiss of pain.

Seeing Aru's hand, Ah Hao couldn't help but gasp softly.

Her hand was bruised blue and red from the tight grip.

"Go get the imperial physician to check if anything's wrong with the bone," Qi Yue quickly instructed.

Without another word, Hu San cupped Aru's hand and hurried away.

Meanwhile, the young Lord Sima, still under sedation, began to grow restless as he lost his anchor.

Ah Hao, standing closest, instinctively offered her hand.

The young Lord Sima immediately clutched it tightly, and only then did he settle down.

"He's spoiled," Qi Yue frowned. "Find him a stick to hold."

Ah Hao couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's fine, it's fine," she said. "Mistress, you two go ahead with your work. I can't help with much else, so I'll just keep him quiet, lest he reopens the wound."

There were no patient-controlled analgesia pumps back then, and they couldn't use too much anesthetic. The young Lord Sima was undergoing a second suture, facing immense physical and psychological pressure; this was the only way to manage.

Qi Yue nodded, gave a few instructions to the watching disciples, and then stepped out.

In the adjacent room, King Julu and Old Doctor An sat in silence.

Qi Yue ignored them, took the charcoal stick handed to her by a disciple behind her, and two disciples brought over a whiteboard.

"...Wound dehiscence is one of the postoperative complications..." she said, reaching out and swiftly writing and drawing on the board while explaining.

King Julu understood neither what he saw nor what he heard, looking rather bewildered.

Old Doctor An, however, listened with intense focus.

The whiteboard quickly sketched out diagrams illustrating the wound's changes under various patient reactions.

"...Coughing, breath-holding, sudden strenuous movement... intra-abdominal pressure spikes suddenly... and then... pop..."

Qi Yue said, turning around and mimicking the rupture action, the charcoal stick still held between her fingers.

The horrifying scene King Julu had witnessed upon entering flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't help but slightly close his lids.

"That is my explanation to you," Qi Yue stated, tossing the charcoal stick aside.

A disciple caught it deftly.

"Your son's wound split because he became emotionally agitated upon seeing you, exerted excessive force, and his intra-abdominal pressure increased," Qi Yue turned to face King Julu. "Had he followed the doctor's orders, this situation would not have arisen. Therefore, we have saved your son's life once again."

Saying this, Qi Yue offered him a slight smile.

"No need to thank us; this is what we are bound to do," she added.

It turned out that a beautiful smile was not always a pleasure to behold!

King Julu grasped this reality.

He looked at the woman whose smile didn't reach her eyes, and his expression darkened further.

"What you are bound to do? Is this what you are bound to do?" he spoke, looking at Qi Yue. "I heard you treated my son. Then why have you only just arrived now? Is this what you were bound to do?"

"Your Highness, my master's family..." Old Doctor An couldn't help but interject.

Qi Yue raised her hand to silence him.

"The young Lord's condition has already been taken over by my disciple," she said, looking at King Julu. "I don't boast, but this disciple of mine..."

She pointed a finger toward Old Doctor An. "His natural talent is prodigious, his medical skills unparalleled. If his path hadn't been violently interrupted, the young Lord's condition would never have required my intervention; he alone would have sufficed."

Calling him 'disciple' one moment, and praising his 'prodigious talent' the next!

Her words clearly implied that the King Julu family had ruined her disciple!

When Old Doctor An made his name, you hadn't even been born yet! She spoke as if she were the one who had trained the disciple personally!

But from where did this certain Mr. An find such an impudent and fearless woman, whom even the Emperor and Empress Dowager seemed to tolerate?

"Whether he has talent remains to be seen," King Julu stood up, giving a cold laugh, and turned to leave.

He wasn't showing respect to these two; he was deferring to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. But if anything truly went wrong this time...

Then neither of their faces would save these two lives!

King Julu was stopped just outside the ward door.

"I don't care about your damned medical orders! All I know is my son is in there, and I am going in," he stated in a deep voice.

The disciples guarding the door exchanged helpless glances.

Voices drifted out from the room.

"Father, Father..."

"Young Lord, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."

"It's not your belly that was cut open, of course you're not afraid!"

"Young Lord, mine was cut open too..."

Silence fell in the room for a moment, and those outside froze. King Julu halted his hand that was about to push the door.

"What?" the young Lord Sima asked the maid by the bedside, looking surprised.

"Inside my stomach, I had something... uh... a spleen, I think they call it..." Ah Hao said, placing a hand on her abdomen. "It was badly damaged from a kick, and I nearly died. My Mistress cut open my stomach and sewed up the rupture, and that's how I recovered."

The young Lord Sima stared at her, utterly disbelieving.

How was that possible?

Ah Hao glanced around; the two disciples had gone to fetch medicated soup, leaving only her in the room.

"Young Lord, don't tell anyone what you see," she whispered, reaching to undo her garments, lifting the hem to expose her lower abdomen.

The young Lord Sima's eyes widened as he looked at the scar running from the girl's belly to her waist, starkly hideous against her skin as white and smooth as jade.

Feeling exposed in front of a strange man, Ah Hao’s face flushed crimson, and she quickly pulled down her clothes.

"Young Lord, look, I am perfectly fine now," she said. "So, don't be afraid. If you just listen to the Mistress, everything will be alright. You’ll recover soon. The Mistress is a doctor; she saves people, she won't harm you."

"...Were you afraid then?" the young Lord Sima suddenly asked.

His agitation had eased considerably compared to moments before.

"I didn't know back then," Ah Hao replied, blushing slightly, then nodded. "But I was very frightened after I woke up."

"This part later..." the young Lord Sima extended a finger, pointing at Ah Hao's abdomen with a hint of dread. "...did it hurt?"

Ah Hao reached out and patted her stomach.

The young Lord Sima flinched in fright.

"It didn't hurt," Ah Hao smiled, revealing two small pointed teeth. "Not at all."

Having said that, she lowered her voice, glancing left and right with a touch of embarrassment.

"But," she whispered, "I was still a little scared inside."

The young Lord Sima murmured an 'Oh.'

"How long ago was yours?"

The low murmur of conversation continued inside the room.

King Julu took a deep breath, withdrew his hand from the door, and turned away.

The two guarding disciples exchanged glances, showing a mixture of confusion and relief.

Meanwhile, Qi Yue was kneeling before the Emperor.

"There is one thing I have never understood," he said, looking at the submissively bowing woman before him, rubbing his brow. "What you do is fundamentally good—saving lives without any personal motive—but why can't you inspire gratitude? Why does doing good so often only provoke anger in others, making them unable to even feel thankful?"

Qi Yue hadn't expected this to be his opening question. Hearing it, she couldn't help but touch her ear.

"It seems that is indeed the case," she laughed. "Perhaps I am simply a very irritating person."

The Emperor looked at her, neither smiling nor speaking.

Qi Yue's smile faltered slightly.

"What exactly are you rushing toward?" the Emperor suddenly asked. "Why can't you work calmly and slowly?"

Qi Yue looked up at him, a look of sudden realization dawning on her face.

Right, yes, she had always been rushing, forceful, and therefore abrasive...

Right, what was she rushing toward?

Rushing for this dream to end?

"You seem very bold, but what are you so frantically afraid of?" the Emperor said, tossing a memorial report onto the desk.

The snap brought the somewhat distracted Qi Yue back to her senses.

"Oh, yes," she abruptly straightened her kneeling posture. "I remembered."

The Emperor watched her, wondering if she had some new trick to spring.

"I am rushing to leave the palace and return," Qi Yue said hurriedly.

The Emperor sighed.

"Qi Yueniang!" he said, frowning.

Before he could finish, Qi Yue cut him off.

"Your Majesty, Madam Chen seems to be in critical condition," she rushed to say.

The Emperor paused slightly.

Watching the woman dash out of the hall, the Emperor turned to Cai Zhong.

"Your Majesty, this old servant doesn't know. These past few days, Madam Chen has kept to her residence behind closed doors. This old servant did not specifically instruct..." Cai Zhong quickly apologized, kneeling down. "This old servant is guilty of dereliction of duty."

The Emperor waved his hand, signaling him to rise.

"Go and see," he commanded.

Cai Zhong bowed in thanks and hurried out as well.

Silence descended upon the great hall. The Emperor reached up to rub his brow, gazing out past the hall doors.

"Your Majesty, I am dying..."

The Emperor frowned, lowered his hand, and the vision and sound vanished.

"It seems this woman, who has been full of lies her entire life, has finally spoken the truth this one time," he said with a smile. He set down his hand and picked up another memorial, only to stop and frown again. "But what illness could kill her so quickly? Is it Heaven's will, or is it a man's doing?"

Yes, what illness was so grave that she was about to die?

Qi Yue hurried toward the Chen residence.

The situation had taken her by surprise. This morning, after making her rounds and arranging the suture removal, Zhou Maochun suddenly exclaimed.

"What day is it today?" he asked.

A disciple informed him.

"Oh, this is bad," Zhou Maochun slapped his thigh and dragged Qi Yue out.

"What's wrong?" Qi Yue asked, confused.

"That Madam Chen of yours is going to die today," Zhou Maochun said.

Qi Yue was dumbfounded.

"Why—why is she dying so suddenly?" she stammered.

"She was already going to die; the time has just arrived," Zhou Maochun stated matter-of-factly.

Qi Yue took a deep breath and understood.

"You mean, you and she have been deceiving me?" she asked.

"It has nothing to do with me. I follow the patient's instructions; she chose to deceive you," Zhou Maochun waved his hand dismissively.

Qi Yue pulled him along without another word, but they were called back just as they reached the palace gates. She had no choice but to let Zhou Maochun go first.

The carriage moved swiftly. Jolted by a bump, Qi Yue came back to herself, lifted the curtain, and saw the Chen residence right ahead.

Zhou Maochun might have lied about her being well, but he wouldn't lie about her being near death. Since he said it, Madam Chen truly was dying.

Dying?

Before the carriage had even stopped moving, Qi Yue leaped down and rushed inside.