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

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the old lady of the Gu family made a scene at Cining Palace, and relied on her status as a mother to make the high and mighty Empress Dowager retreat step by step, the Huiyi Clinic in Jiangning City welcomed an unexpected guest.

Miss Zhuang brought cured meat and celery to Huiyi Clinic, wanting to become Zhu Qingyu's apprentice and learn medicine.

Huiyi Clinic has been open for more than three months now, and everything has been sorted out. Zhu Qingyu's daily schedule has also become fixed, with half a day spent seeing patients and the other half a day spent teaching the clinic's doctors.

The Huiyi Clinic in Jiangning now has nearly twenty doctors on staff. Half of the doctors were recruited by Zhu Qingyu on her way back to Jiangning from the north, and the other half came one after another after the government posted notices.

After a year of training, by this time next year, those doctors who meet the qualifications will basically be dispatched to build medical clinics all over the country.

Therefore, among these people, apart from Zhu Dashan who started from scratch with no prior knowledge, the other doctors, regardless of age or gender, were all physicians before, and some were even well-known doctors who came because of Zhu's reputation as a divine physician.

Miss Zhuang is the first person like this, who has no background and is also a daughter of an official.

Miss Zhuang has a desire to learn, which Zhu Qingyu doesn't object to, but she worries that Miss Zhuang won't be able to get past her family's objections, so she asks in detail:

"Miss Zhuang, have you consulted your elders?"

Miss Zhuang dared to bring a gift for becoming a disciple, which meant she had already won over her family before coming. She smiled and said:

"Master Zhu, don't worry, I didn't run away from home without my family's knowledge. I thought about it carefully for three months, consulted with my elders, and made sure I was right before coming here."

The study of medicine can be deep or shallow. As an unmarried girl, Miss Zhuang's future path is already very narrow. Zhu Qingyu is worried that she will act impulsively. If Miss Zhuang's family has other plans for her future, it will affect Miss Zhuang's future if she rashly takes her in.

Just to be on the safe side, Zhu Qingyu sent someone to the government office to invite Lord Zhuang over first, and then said to the father and daughter:

"Even though we are studying medicine, there are different ways to learn it. Just like learning poetry or painting, having a hobby is one way. Treating it as a proper job to make a living is another. The latter is like me, whose daily work at the clinic is already full. If I want to take care of household affairs and be the mistress of a high-ranking family, I'm afraid it's impossible to have both."

Zhu Qingyu told them all this to persuade them to think it over carefully. The main point was to emphasize that it was difficult to have both options. Miss Zhuang was an unmarried girl who came out to study medicine. High-class families had many rules and regulations, which might affect Miss Zhuang's marriage.

But it seems that both father and daughter misunderstood the main point.

Lord Zhuang had been ill for over three months, and had already regained his former handsome appearance. Upon entering and hearing Zhu Qingyu's concerns, he immediately smiled:

"Min'er did tell me about this. In this life, only you know what is good and what is bad. Since Min'er has made up her mind, I naturally agree. If she is fortunate enough to be like Lord Zhu in this life, I will be very gratified."

Zhuang Min stood to the side, her eyes sparkling:

"Like Lord Zhu, what about me? Could I be that powerful?"

Alright, Zhu Qingyu had no way to deal with this father and daughter who had gone off track. Since they had thought things through, she immediately accepted Zhuang Min's apprenticeship gift, fulfilling Zhuang Min's wish to learn medicine. She also called Lin Lan in, asking Lin Lan, the junior apprentice sister, to mentor her.

Because the Mid-Autumn Festival is tomorrow, the clinic will close earlier than usual, and tomorrow will be a day off.

After dinner, taking advantage of a rare moment of leisure, Zhu Qingyu casually picked up a book, sat by the window, and prepared to read in the cool autumn breeze.

He opened the window and saw a carriage parked downstairs, with Zhang Shen standing beside it, looking up at the second floor.

The lanterns on the carriage swayed in the autumn wind, and Zhang Shen's shadow swayed beneath them as well.

Even Lord Zhuang, who had been seriously ill from poisoning, had regained his former glory, but Zhang Shen, who claimed that he was just tired and uncomfortable and was taking a nap, looked much thinner and weaker than when she last saw him.

It was as if the autumn wind could not only blow away his shadow, but also blow him away as a person.

Upon suddenly seeing Zhu Qingyu open the window, Zhang Shen seemed stunned, his expression hesitant, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Zhu Qingyu went downstairs and saw Zhang Shen still standing there, so she asked him:

"Jingyan, are you ill? Have you come to the clinic for a checkup?"

Zhang Shen first shook his head, then nodded as if he had thought of something:

"Um."

Zhu Qingyu greeted them:

"Then come here, let me take a look at you."

Leading Zhang Shen into the clinic, Zhu Qingyu greeted him in the consultation room in the front yard, like the side for receiving patients. She had him sit in the chair for patients and took his pulse.

Having finally gotten this close, Zhang Shen stared at her with a hint of longing and asked:

"Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Are you coming back for dinner? Do you have someone cook for you at the clinic?"

Zhu Qingyu took his pulse without looking up and replied:

"Yes, I hired two cooks to prepare meals for the clinic. They are very good cooks."

Zhang Shen looked her up and down again, and then said:

"Who washes your clothes? There are ink stains on your cuffs. Haven't they taken good care of you? They don't even care about your clothes."

Zhu Qingyu withdrew her hand from taking his pulse, raised her sleeve to look, and sure enough, there was ink on it. She glanced at him and sighed:

"These ink stains are so fresh, I must have just applied them today. How can you blame the laundry person? Master Zhang, judging from your pulse, you already have symptoms of inner turmoil. Please try to relax. You're already too busy with your official duties every day; don't worry about such trivial matters. I'll prescribe some medicine for you. Take it home and try it for a few days, okay?"

The slight warmth that had just touched his wrist was withdrawn by her.

For more than three months, she has truly kept her word: either remain family or sever all ties, leaving him with no lingering affection.

Zhang Shen and Zhu Qingyu have been together for so many years, and he knows her well. Now that she has made her decision not to be husband and wife anymore, no matter if he stays in the same place and waits for her for three months, three years, or thirty years, she will never come back.

Zhang Shen touched his heart and struggled one last time before saying:

"It's been so long, and he hasn't come at all. We haven't heard a word from him. What if he doesn't come?"

Zhu Qingyu laid out paper, ground ink, and wrote the prescription:

"Then I won't come. I have my own things to do, and I'm not just waiting for him here. Besides, there are countless men in the world. It's not impossible that I might change my mind and fall in love with someone else. Jingyan, I'm just that realistic and cold-hearted. I'm like this with you, and I'm like this with him."

It's painful to not be able to be husband and wife, but it's even more painful to sever ties and have nothing left.

A mental illness requires a mental cure. Although she was a skilled doctor, Zhang Shen did not believe that the prescriptions she wrote could cure his current ailment.

Zhang Shen pressed down on Zhu Qingyu's hand as she wrote the prescription, took out a document from his robes, spread it out on the table, and said:

"Mine is already signed and sealed. You just need to write yours. Come back for dinner tomorrow. Since we're family, it's Mid-Autumn Festival, so we should go home to celebrate, right?"