Zhou Yuzhi spoke through gritted teeth.
Ye Lanxin, who had just “arrived,” quickly interjected, “Yuzhi, after all, your sister is your birth mother…”
“I wish she weren’t… Having a birth mother and sister like this is nothing but a disgrace to me…”
Zhou Zhili’s eyes turned dark and menacing. He said, “Lady Ye has raised her daughter well! Rest assured, madam, I will send someone to drag her back immediately and make her kneel before Qinzhu to apologize.”
“And Lady Ye owes you and your daughter an apology as well!”
Zhou Qinzhu and Ye Lanxin exchanged a glance before putting on a fragile, concerned expression. “Father, sister never wanted to return in the first place. Could it be that her resentment toward the marquis’ estate runs even deeper…”
With those words, the anger of father and son was completely ignited.
Zhou Zhili snorted coldly. “Resentment! How dare they! Guards, tie that rebellious girl up and bring her back!”
The servants, having received the order, swiftly exited the estate through the back gate.
Meanwhile, Gu Ruanci had already passed through the marketplace and arrived at a secluded courtyard.
Two dignified and ancient characters, “Zang Residence,” were inscribed above the gate.
The gatekeeper here was humble and low-key in demeanor. “Today, there is a distinguished guest in the residence. If you are seeking medical treatment or medicine, please come another day…”
Gu Ruanci stepped down from the carriage, still wearing her veil.
“I am looking for Zang Jizhi. I am his junior sister.”
The gatekeeper was far more composed than those at the Jing’an Marquis’ Estate. His eyes immediately lit up. “Little… Little Medical Immortal?”
In his astonishment, he scrutinized her repeatedly, never expecting the Little Medical Immortal to be so young.
“My master has been waiting for you. Please come this way, Little Medical Immortal.”
As the gatekeeper led her inside, he sent someone to announce her arrival.
Just as they reached the pavilion at the center of the lake, a fifty-year-old man with graying whiskers hurried over.
Upon seeing the woman, he did not hesitate, as if he had spotted a savior.
“Little Junior Sister, you’ve finally arrived. Master wrote to me saying you would be descending the mountain early. I was overjoyed…”
This elderly man was none other than Zang Jizhi, one of the two pillars of the Imperial Medical Academy.
Gu Ruanci noticed that Zang Jizhi had come down from the pavilion at the center of the lake. There, a man sat with his back to her, not rising to follow but continuing to drink his tea leisurely.
“Greetings, Senior Brother… Is today’s distinguished guest still that troublesome patient?” Gu Ruanci asked directly, without any pleasantries.
“Exactly. This is the patient for whom I expended immense effort, applying Qiankun Dingyuan Zhen, Huiyang Jiu Zhen, Taiji Jiu Zhen, and even Xiao Zhoutian Zhenfa, yet his consciousness still hasn’t fully recovered…”
Before descending the mountain, her master had already told her about this peculiar patient.
The acupuncture techniques Zang Jizhi had just mentioned were mastered by only a handful of people. It was unexpected that they had such little effect on this patient.
“Where is he now? What is his condition?” Gu Ruanci asked succinctly.
“In the examination room. He just took his medicine and has fallen into a deep sleep. Otherwise, he would still be smashing things and shouting about killing…”
After nodding, Gu Ruanci said directly, “Let’s go there now.”
Zang Jizhi said nothing, merely nodding and leading the way.
As they approached the examination room, the atmosphere felt different.
Gu Ruanci could clearly sense that the guards nearby were not from the Zang Residence.
Most likely, they were all connected to the man at the pavilion in the center of the lake.
The room was filled with the scent of medicine. A man lay quietly there, though his body was still bound with ropes.
Another man looked on with extreme wariness, sizing up the obviously too-young woman before him.
Gu Ruanci walked straight over, examined the patient’s eyelids, and then calmly took his pulse.
“He was poisoned and injured before. Although the poison has been neutralized, his mind remains disordered. He must have suffered severe trauma earlier. Only Guimen Shisan Zhen will work.”
“Junior Sister, are you willing to intervene?” Zang Jizhi was overjoyed. This patient was important—someone the palace had explicitly ordered to be cured.
And Guimen Shisan Zhen was nearly an untransmitted secret of their school; even he hadn’t mastered it.
The man beside them was also surprised upon hearing the words “Junior Sister.”
He still questioned, “Are you certain you can cure him? Do you realize that if anything goes wrong, you cannot bear the responsibility?”
Gu Ruanci showed no panic. After glancing at him, she replied directly, “So, I should pretend I never came here today and just leave, is that it?”
The man was taken aback, then his expression softened slightly.
“No…”
“Before I arrived, my senior brother was your best option. Now that my senior brother personally wrote to invite me here, you should understand that if even I have no solution, then it is his own misfortune, not my responsibility.”
The man was left speechless; it seemed to make sense.
Zang Jizhi was somewhat worried, fearing that his junior sister might refuse to save the patient because of this man’s attitude.
“To treat or not to treat—if you cannot make the decision, go ask your master.”
Gu Ruanci truly wasn’t angry and knew this patient’s identity must be special.
Zang Jizhi quickly said to the man, “If even I have no solution, only my master and junior sister in this world can handle it.”
The man hesitated for a moment, then turned and left. Not long after, he returned and bowed solemnly to the woman. “I must trouble you…”
He had likely gone to seek instructions from the man in the lakeside pavilion.
After taking the silver needles from the maid, Gu Ruanci’s gaze became entirely different.
The first needle was inserted into the patient’s Renzhong acupoint, which according to the needle technique is called Guigong.
Her hand was extremely steady, and the insertion was swift.
Before the man could react, the second needle at the Shaoshang acupoint, also known as Guixin, was already in place.
With the needles at Guilei, Guixin, and Guilu, the man’s astonishment was about to show on his face.
Zang Jizhi sighed with emotion. What he had never been able to master back then, Little Junior Sister now wielded with ease—truly a monstrous talent.
As the final needle was inserted, fine beads of sweat had already formed on Gu Ruanci’s forehead.
Zang Jizhi, who had hardly dared to breathe beside her, watched as she withdrew the last needle and cautiously stepped forward to ask, “Junior Sister, how is it?”
Gu Ruanci didn’t answer. Instead, she gently inserted a needle into the patient’s Yintang acupoint and quickly withdrew it.
The patient slowly regained consciousness, and the man beside him tensed instantly.
Unexpectedly, after waking, the patient’s eyes no longer held any trace of frenzy but were filled with confusion instead.
The veiled woman before him made him somewhat uneasy.
Only when his gaze fell upon the man did he feel a surge of emotion.
“Brother, take me to see the master quickly…”
The rest, Gu Ruanci knew, was not for her to handle.
Sometimes, the less one knows, the fewer troubles arise.
Without needing any prompting, she stood up and left directly.
“Young lady, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Please forgive me…”
Gu Ruanci did not turn her head, replying, “It’s fine. If it were someone unrelated, you wouldn’t be so nervous.”
“If I wish to repay your kindness in the future, where should I go to find you?”