In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

The night was deep, but the study in the front courtyard of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion was still brightly lit.

The stack of discarded papers on the desk was thick, and the books he had been reading were piled up on the desk as well. Gu Zhao had been writing and drawing at the desk for several hours, and still showed no sign of going to sleep.

After racking his brains all night, Master Gu was still at a loss as to how to win the love of his beloved. He felt lost in a fog, with no way out and no way forward.

He had tried to coerce her, and she seemed to submit, but it was all just a temporary measure. Coercion only earned her perfunctory responses.

He had tried to entice her with gifts, but wealth and honor did not seem to be what she desired. The position of the eldest son's wife in the Duke's mansion was like fleeting clouds in her eyes.

He even offered his true feelings, but these feelings were like a stone sinking into the sea, having no effect on her under her cold heart.

Gu Zhao tried to find a prescription to brew a love potion that could bewitch her and make her tell him the truth, revealing the best medicine to open her heart.

Zhu Qingyu, what exactly do you like?

What kind of man can truly capture your heart?

He may not be the man she desires now, but once she finds this remedy, he could be.

The servant made up the bed for the young master and was almost asleep under the eaves when a cold wind blew in and startled him awake. He tiptoed to the door and saw the young master still dealing with government affairs with a furrowed brow. Not daring to disturb him, he silently retreated.

Throughout the night, he kept waking up and sleeping, and the servant stayed up until 3:45 AM, the time when the young master would normally get up to go to court. Just as he was about to call Gu Zhao, Gu Zhao opened the door by herself and walked out with a calm expression.

Judging from his expression alone, it was impossible to tell whether the young master's plans for the court had gone smoothly or not. The attendant dared not ask and simply served Gu Zhao as usual, helping him wash up and go to court.

After Gu Zhao left, Chang Sui went into the study and opened the window for ventilation as usual. As soon as he opened the window, a gust of wind swept through, blowing the papers on the desk into the air.

Chang Sui could only cry out in his heart, "This is bad!"

Oh no! We've made a mess of things!

He quickly closed the window again. Looking up, he saw countless sheets of paper falling from the sky, each covered with three large characters:

"Zhu Qingyu".

A piece of paper flew towards him, and the writing on it seemed different from what he expected. Before he could even read it closely, it had already hit the servant's face. The servant hurriedly took it off, and saw that the paper read:

"To turn the indirect into the direct, to turn adversity into advantage, to arrive before others even though they are the ones who start later—this is the way to understand the strategy of turning the indirect into the direct."

Chang Sui looked at it from left to right but couldn't understand it, so he simply put it aside for the time being. He piled up the papers that had been flying around and were covered with the three characters "Zhu Qingyu" written on them, put them back on the desk, and finally put the paper that he couldn't understand on top of it.

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Human joys and sorrows are different for everyone.

Under imperial power, for the sake of a monarch's word, thought, or glance, how many people are torn apart from their wives and children and their families are destroyed overnight, and how many others rise from the ground to the top and become rich and powerful.

For Zhu Qingyu, rescuing Zhang Shen had taken almost all her strength. For Zhang Shen, what he was giving up now was all his wealth. The two of them had suffered broken bones and almost abandoned everything. All they wanted was to live in peace in a remote corner of the country, hoping that after the events in the capital were over and their wealth was gone, they could find a way out and a place to live in a remote place far from the emperor's reach.

But to the emperor, who held the power of life and death over all the people in the world, the commoner he had met for a quarter of an hour after court that day was so insignificant that he could not even leave any impression on him afterwards.

Now, what occupies the Emperor's mind are all other, even the most important, matters.

The most important thing on my mind is the epidemic situation in northern Xinjiang.

The Imperial Physician Liu, who led the team to the northern frontier, left behind a prescription, which has now been presented to the cabinet. Today, the cabinet held a small meeting to discuss the matter of disaster relief.

The main topic was whether or not to prepare the medicinal materials according to this prescription and send them to northern Xinjiang.

Should we wait until Dr. Liu arrives in northern Xinjiang and verifies the epidemic situation before making a decision?

After all, even minor illnesses require careful observation, listening, questioning, and palpation to determine the appropriate treatment. How could Dr. Liu, who hasn't even touched the edge of the epidemic yet, be so prescient as to be so certain that this prescription can cure the epidemic in the northern border region, and even dare to send it to the emperor?

Furthermore, the funds used for this disaster relief were originally intended for the Emperor's birthday celebrations. Since it reflects the Emperor's love for the people, no one dared to use it recklessly. Spending money must be done with caution, for fear that if the money is spent but the epidemic is not brought under control, the Emperor's good intentions will be betrayed, and a disaster even more terrible than the epidemic might occur.

The prescription circulated among the Grand Secretaries, each with their own version of the medicine.

Because Gu Zhao was the youngest among the cabinet ministers, the prescription was the last one to reach him.

Despite not having slept all night, Gu Zhao appeared energetic and spoke with a clear mind, showing no signs of fatigue. Even after receiving the prescription, he could clearly recall that he had seen it before.

Gu Zhao was initially skeptical of the prescription presented by Imperial Physician Liu, as he was physically strong and rarely consulted the imperial physician. However, during a meal with his mother, he overheard her arranging for someone to fetch the imperial physician and made a point of mentioning it:

"Make sure you know who's on duty. Everything else is fine, just one thing: don't ask Physician Liu. If Physician Liu is the only one available, then come back as usual and go to Zhuque Street to ask for another doctor."

Seeing the puzzled look on Gu Zhao's face, the Duchess of Dingguo explained to him:

"You don't know, the old lady's back injury last time was worsened by this Imperial Physician Liu. This man's medical skills are very mediocre, not even as good as an ordinary imperial physician. I don't know how he got to such a high position as Imperial Physician. In the future, when you need to hire an imperial physician, remember to avoid him."

Therefore, although Gu Zhao had never met Judge Liu, he remembered his name.

Despite having reservations about his medical skills, Gu Zhao did not prepare a letter once she received the prescription.

But after looking at the prescription three times, from top to bottom and from left to right, the prescription became more and more familiar with it.

In a cramped clinic in Yangzhou, on the page about epidemic diseases in someone's book "Treatise on a Hundred Diseases," he had seen this prescription word for word.

Medical principles may be the same, but doctors do not share knowledge. Prescriptions are a matter of expertise. Apart from ancient prescriptions passed down through generations, even if two doctors treat the same patient, they rarely prescribe the exact same prescription in terms of ingredients and dosage.

Why does Physician Liu have Zhu Qingyu's prescription?

Perhaps because Physician Liu did not have a good reputation among the cabinet ministers, most of the other cabinet ministers were also suspicious and advised the emperor that it would be better to wait for the imperial physicians to arrive in the northern frontier and examine the patient's condition.

However, the usually leisurely Grand Secretary held Judge Liu in the highest esteem:

"My esteemed elders, you may not know this, but there is a reason why the Imperial Medical Academy sent Physician Liu to the Northern Frontier. Physician Liu was originally a physician in Bianzhou City and is quite knowledgeable about winter epidemics. Four years ago, during the great epidemic in Bianzhou, I was in charge of the disaster relief efforts. If you did not witness it firsthand, you truly cannot imagine the horrific scene of starving corpses strewn across the land. In the end, it was Physician Liu who contributed his prescriptions and turned the tide, thus stopping this disaster. Such a skilled physician should not be overlooked, so I recommended him to the Imperial Medical Academy. Since Physician Liu can treat the epidemic in Bianzhou City, he will surely be able to subdue the epidemic in the Northern Frontier as well. If we delay and allow the Northern Frontier to lack medicine, thus needlessly delaying the epidemic, I fear that what happened in Bianzhou four years ago will happen in the Northern Frontier tomorrow. Gentlemen, this matter must not be delayed."