Qinqin led an elderly man through the archway. He wore simple gray robes, carried a wooden medicine chest over his shoulder, and walked with cautious, slow steps. This was Physician Zhang, the man who had been attending to Bai Zhengyu for the past three years.
As Physician Zhang stepped onto the porch, he froze.
The courtyard was no longer dark, dirty, or silent. Fresh evergreen shrubs lined the stone paths, the smell of burning smokeless coal filled the air, and ten stone-faced guards stood at attention near the gates.
In the center of the porch sat An Yimei. The red mark on her left cheek had darkened slightly, but her posture was straight and her expression calm.
"Physician Zhang greets the Young Madame," the old man bowed low, his hands trembling slightly against his wooden chest.
"Please sit, Physician," Yimei said smoothly, pointing to a wooden chair beside her. "Qinqin, pour some warm tea."
Physician Zhang sat on the very edge of the chair, looking extremely nervous. "Young Madame, I was told you summoned me regarding the Eldest Young Master’s health?"
"I did," Yimei replied, resting her tea cup on the table. "My husband has been confined to his room for three years. Since I am now in charge of this courtyard, I need to know his exact condition, his current prescriptions, and his diet."
Physician Zhang swallowed hard, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The... the Young Master’s legs were severely injured in an accident three years ago. The muscles are weak, and the cold air causes him great pain. I have been prescribing basic warming herbs to ease his suffering."
Yimei’s sharp eyes locked onto the old man’s face. "Basic warming herbs? For three whole years?"
Physician Zhang flinched. "Young Madame... the main treasury only allocated a very small budget for the Northern Courtyard’s medical supplies. Second Aunt Madame Liu instructed me to only use cheap, basic ingredients..."
Yimei did not raise her voice, but her tone dropped into a cold, dangerous register. "So Second Aunt was not just stealing his silver and coal—she was making sure he never recovered."
Physician Zhang bowed his head, not daring to deny it.
Yimei picked up a clean sheet of paper and a writing brush. "Starting today, Second Aunt no longer controls the medical budget. I have fifty silver taels in hand, and six hundred more arriving tomorrow. I want you to write down a complete, high-grade treatment plan."
She tapped the brush against the table. "Include the finest tonic herbs, warm baths for his legs, and a detailed daily meal plan. Tell me what meats, vegetables, and soups will restore his strength."
Physician Zhang looked up in shock. "Young Madame... you are willing to spend top-grade silver on the Young Master’s treatment?"
"He is my husband," Yimei said simply. "A strong husband makes a strong courtyard. Write the list."
Inside the main chamber, the room was dimly lit by a single candle.
Guard Feng stood near the window, watching Physician Zhang carefully write down the prescription list under Yimei’s directions on the porch outside.
"Young Master," Feng whispered in a low voice. "Physician Zhang just confessed that Second Aunt restricted your medicine budget. Young Madame is forcing him to write a top-tier recovery plan, and she is paying for the expensive tonic herbs out of the central fund she reclaimed today."
Bai Zhengyu sat motionless in his wheelchair, resting his chin on his pale, long fingers. His dark eyes were fixed on the paper window shutter.
"Top-tier herbs..." Zhengyu murmured, his voice cold and flat. "She wants to play the gentle, caring wife now?"
"It seems she genuinely wants to improve your health, Young Master," Feng said quietly.
"Or she wants to control what goes into my body," Zhengyu cut in sharply, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes. "A person who controls my food and my medicine controls my life. Tell Physician Zhang that any prescription he writes must be brought to you first. Not a single drop of broth enters this room without your personal inspection."
"Understood," Feng replied, bowing low.
Zhengyu looked back toward the window, his expression carved like marble.
She was clever, steady, and fearless. She had defeated Second Aunt, won over Old Madame, and was now pouring resources into his health. But in his eyes, every good deed was just another thread in the net she was weaving around him.
A soft chime rang inside Yimei’s head outside on the porch:
[SYSTEM 009 UPDATE]
[TARGET: BAI ZHENGYU]
[Favorability: -15% ➔ -12%]
Yimei looked at the blue screen floating before her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
’From minus fifteen to minus twelve,’ she thought with an amused, quiet smile. ’Ordering expensive medicine for him gained me three points. The icy husband is still paranoid, but at least his score is moving in the right direction.’
She handed the finished medical list back to Physician Zhang. "Bring these herbs tomorrow morning. Our new kitchen staff will prepare his meals according to this exact plan."
The sun had fully set, and the Northern Courtyard was now bright with lantern light, warm with burning coal, and guarded by loyal servants. Yimei stood up from her chair, adjusted her sleeves, and walked toward her newly cleaned side room, ready for the battles that tomorrow would bring.
.....
Inside the eastern wing of the second court, the chamber was in absolute chaos.
An Yulan sat frozen before her brass dressing table, staring at her own reflection in sheer horror. Her hair was a wild, tangled mess, her expensive red silk robes were torn at the collar, and her dark lipstick was smudged entirely across her cheek.
Behind her, the grand canopy bed was a disaster of ripped silk sheets and tossed pillows. Spread out across the mattress lay Bai Wenliang, snoring loudly, his arms thrown wide in a dead, wine-soaked stupor.
Yulan’s hands trembled violently as her maid, Honger, desperately tried to comb through her tangled hair with a wooden brush.
"Ouch! Be careful, you useless girl!" Yulan hissed in a low, furious whisper, her eyes burning with tears of absolute shame and humiliation.
"Forgive me, Young Madame! Forgive me!" Honger whimpered, bowing frantically.
Yulan looked back at the mirror, her chest heaving with bitter rage. It was proper for any noble gentleman to exercise restraint, to treat his new bride with gentle respect, or at the very least wait until the alcohol wore off before consummating their marriage! But Wenliang had behaved like a wild beast the moment the doors closed last night. He had stumbled in smelling of cheap sorghum liquor, babbling about missing treasure, and rushed at her with disgusting, sloppy force.
In her sheer panic, Yulan had reached behind her, grabbed a heavy bronze incense burner from the side table, and slammed it directly into the side of his head.
Wenliang had dropped onto the bed like a sack of stone and had been out cold ever since.
Yulan wiped her smudged lipstick with the back of her hand, her breathing ragged. She had been forced to skip the morning family breakfast entirely today because she looked like a battered mess. The entire estate was probably laughing at her behind her back already!
How did everything go so wrong? Yulan thought, her fingernails digging deep into the wooden edge of the vanity table until her knuckles turned white.
In her past life, when she was married to the crippled Bai Zhengyu, he had refused to even let her step inside his room on their wedding night. He had ignored her, kept his distance, and never once laid a single finger on her. Technically, throughout her entire past life, she had remained a pure, untouched virgin!
She had brought that same pride into this second life, fully expecting Bai Wenliang, the future high-ranking scholar, to treat her like a precious, delicate treasure.
Instead, he was a crude, violent drunk who had nearly forced her on their very first night, leaving her with no choice but to knock him unconscious in her own bridal chamber.
Yulan turned her head, casting a terrified, hateful glare at the snoring man on the bed.
"Miss..." Honger whispered anxiously, her voice shaking. "What... what are we going to do when the Second Young Master wakes up? What if he remembers that you struck him with a heavy bronze burner?"
Yulan swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out across her back as she stared at the heavy bronze object sitting quietly on the table. She had survived last night by sheer luck, but when this brute woke up with a pounding headache and a bruised skull... she had no idea what cruel, disgraceful thing he would do to her next.