General, your wife has gone to deliver another calf for your horse.

Li Rong stiffened, glanced at Jiang Nuanzhi's solemn expression, and smiled faintly: "Anuan, I'm really fine."

"Look, I'm perfectly fine."

As he spoke, he stretched for a bit, then glanced at the food on the table, picked up a piece of crispy chicken strip, put it to his mouth, and ate it in a few bites. He then looked at Jiang Nuanzhi and said, "Look, I have a good appetite too."

Jiang Nuanzhi looked at him suspiciously. The next second, without saying a word, she pulled him over, took his hand, and while taking his pulse, glanced at the food spread out on the table. She sighed and said, "I made such a big table of food, all of which are the old man's favorites. I didn't expect him to suddenly be poisoned and not be able to taste a single bite... This poison is really potent."

"It's alright, Grandpa won't eat it. I'll eat it all later. It'll be a good deal for me. I've been craving Anuan's food."

Li Rong tilted his head to look at her reassuringly, and then took another bite of the crispy chicken strip.

"Sister Nuan, we're hungry too."

The young princess and Lü Shizhu sat together. After listening to Li Rong's words, Lü Shizhu couldn't help but speak.

"Then come and eat together." Jiang Nuanzhi called out to them directly: "Linchun, you guys have been busy for a long time, come and eat if you're hungry."

"Yes."

Everyone was hungry at this point, so they didn't bother with formalities and all rushed over to eat.

Just then, Chi Heng's stomach growled loudly. He swallowed twice and couldn't help but run over, saying, "I've been craving your food for a long time, sister-in-law."

As he spoke, he quietly sat down in the corner of the table, not daring to reach for his chopsticks, and kept an eye on Jiang Nuanzhi's expression.

Jiang Nuanzhi rolled her eyes at him, pretending not to have seen him.

Chi Heng then picked up a piece of braised pork rib with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.

I've been thinking about important things all day. To be honest, Chiheng is in a worse situation. She only ate a little something this morning, and her stomach was already rumbling early on.

"Eat slowly, don't choke, there's water there."

Unable to resist, Jiang Nuanzhi gave him a word of advice and pushed the water towards him.

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

At this moment, Chi Heng's eyes were red, and she looked so excited that she seemed about to cry in front of Jiang Nuanzhi.

Jiang Nuanzhi shook her head with amusement. This person was the same age as Li Rong, yet he acted like a child.

Ignore it and focus on listening to his pulse.

But the next second, his brow twitched, his pupils contracted sharply, and he looked at Li Rong.

Li Rong was holding a chicken strip in his hand, and had just taken a bite when a stream of black blood gushed from the tip of his nose.

He seemed to feel an itch, frowned, casually wiped his hand, and then looked down to see his hand covered in blood.
“Arong…”

In a daze, Chi Heng's body trembled, and he stood up, causing the table to shake a few times.

He stared intently at Li Rong, his face extremely grim: "What's wrong with you?"

Li Rong waved his hand: "It's alright, just wipe it with a handkerchief."

As he spoke, he got up to grab something, but the next second, he stumbled.

As the candlelight flickered, a line of black blood slowly trickled from the corner of Li Rong's mouth once more. He then slowly collapsed to the ground.

"General!"

"Arong!"

The sudden turn of events startled everyone.

Without saying a word, Jiang Nuanzhi ripped open Li Rong's clothes and, with a swift movement, used a needle to instantly protect his heart meridian.

Li Rong initially lay calmly on the ground, still retaining his senses.

Seeing the anxiety in Jiang Nuanzhi's eyes, he smiled gently and comforted her: "Anuan, don't be afraid. Just remember to keep this safe. Just follow your heart."

As he spoke, he took out a jade pendant from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Nuanzhi.

Jiang Nuanzhi stared blankly at Li Rong, only to see him give her the jade pendant that he had given to her before, and that she had returned to him, back to her.

He couldn't help but frown for a moment.

"Hey, Li Rong, wake up! You've left me with this huge mess all by myself?!" Li Rong shook his head dazedly, "Anuan...right?"

Before he could finish speaking, he fainted and lost consciousness.

Jiang Nuanzhi grinds her teeth.

What's going on with these two? Are they taking turns making their final arrangements?

He secretly clenched the jade pendant and stuffed it into his bosom.

Li Rong looked exactly like the old man at this moment. Jiang Nuanzhi tried to pick Li Rong up and carry him inside, just like before.

This time, however, she had expended too much energy and, after two attempts, she still didn't have the strength to lift it.

Chi Heng suddenly stepped forward and picked her up, looking at Jiang Nuanzhi: "Sister-in-law, please give your instructions."

The lights in the room, which had been half-off, were now all turned on.

Previously, the room where the old man lived was busy, but now, a large number of red candles were burning in the main room.

Jiang Nuanzhi's hands moved swiftly and smoothly, applying needles to Li Rong's body without pausing for a moment.

Lu Shizhu, Lin Chun, and Xiao Er followed behind, assisting him.

Behind them, Chi Heng, the young princess, Dongzang, Sun Wen, and Chen Shu were all stationed there, in preparation for any eventuality.

As dawn broke, Jiang Nuanzhi finally finished her acupuncture and collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted.

Linchun gave her some pine nut candy to replenish her strength, and she finally recovered.

"Sister-in-law, how is it? When will Arong wake up?" Chi Heng asked anxiously.

Jiang Nuanzhi glanced at him, and after a while said, "Like the old man, it would be a blessing if he could wake up within two days."

"What should we do? Tomorrow is the banquet at Xiao Yuanshan's residence. At this crucial moment, why have both of them fallen ill? What are we going to do?"

Chi Heng was so anxious that she was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth in the room.

Jiang Nuanzhi glanced at him and frowned: "Isn't it not time yet? What's the rush? Maybe he'll wake up when the time comes. Alright, there's no use everyone guarding him. Eat and drink as usual, there's always a way out. We can talk about it tomorrow, let's all go home."

As she spoke, she was too lazy to get out of bed, so she kicked off her shoes, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.

Chi Heng and the others looked at each other, their faces full of worry.

The first day in Beijing was destined to be a sleepless night.

……

However, less than half an hour later, Jiang Nuanzhi was forced to get out of bed.

Lin Chun carried a bowl of hot water. Looking at Jiang Nuanzhi's resentful face, she calmly said, "Madam, today is your first day on duty at the Imperial Hospital. You can't be late."

A quarter of an hour later, Jiang Nuanzhi sat in the carriage, letting Lin Chun dress her up.

There was no precedent for a woman to serve as an imperial physician, so Jiang Nuanzhi could only wear men's court robes. Her hair was also meticulously combed, except that she wore an extra hairpin to secure it, unlike ordinary imperial physicians.

But with that seventh-rank official's hat covering him, he couldn't see anything at all.

If it weren't for her good looks, fair skin, and delicate features, she would look no different from an ordinary man.

However, Jiang Nuanzhi was in no mood to think about this; she was still dozing off in the carriage.

Even after arriving at the gates of the imperial city, he was still bewildered.

Lin Chun half-helped, half-carried her out of the car. The cold air helped Jiang Nuanzhi clear her head a little. When she came to her senses, she realized that Chi Heng, with huge dark circles under his eyes, was following behind her.

"Sister-in-law, now..."

"Stop!" Before Chi Heng could speak, Jiang Nuanzhi knew what he was going to say: "Isn't the banquet in the evening? I'll go on duty first, and we can discuss it together when we get back tonight, how about that?"

"Yes, sister-in-law."

Jiang Nuanzhi: "It's settled then."

After saying that, he turned and left. (End of Chapter)