A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

There's still no news from the Zhao family.

Yang Hu was not at ease!

Someone who's used to being arrogant can remain so calm after suffering such a huge setback on the street; they must be either enduring it or holding back a lot of anger! But life goes on!

After curing Master Zhou, the Zhou family found a three-courtyard house with blue bricks and tiles, where they have been sleeping for several months.

The front yard was a hospital, the back yard was a house, and the middle yard was converted into a pharmacy and warehouse.

Living in that drafty little house in thatched village was something I never dared to dream of before...

Ah!

A wandering doctor who used to beg for food on the border has become a legendary physician in the city with a house and a hospital, and he's even managed to snag four beautiful wives along the way! Sometimes, lying in bed at night, Yang Hu feels like his luck is magical...

The city is different from the village. In the village, everyone is a familiar neighbor who knows each other well. In the city, you can see all kinds of people. When a family moves in, you have to be on guard everywhere...

Lu Yan was in charge of the pharmacy.

Her health was much better than in the village. Annoying ailments like coughing had disappeared, and she rarely caught colds anymore. Every day, she meticulously arranged the medicinal herbs according to their properties, with each herb listed on a separate sheet on the cabinet. She knew better than anyone what herbs were in each shelf and what combinations would cause them to clash.

Aji helped Lu Yan identify the medicine.

Pinellia ternata, Arisaema heterophyllum, and other similar plants look alike and are easily confused, so Lu Yan held them up hand by hand and patiently taught Aji to recognize them one by one...

"These two look alike, just with different personalities." She said sweetly, "You've caught the wrong one; the one meant to heal is the one meant to kill!"

Aji nodded firmly, etching those words into his memory.

She is indeed a young lady from the Duke's mansion. She can read and write, and she manages the medicinal herbs in this room better than those doctors who run clinics in the city!

Once, a herbal medicine seller from out of town came by with a batch of "aged ginseng." Lu Yan could tell at a glance that the ginseng had turned black and had mold marks on the slices, indicating that it had definitely been soaked in water and then artificially aged. The man left sheepishly.

Yang Hu found her a sunny room; he knew she liked quiet.

Sometimes, when I see her leaning against the window, touching the wooden window frame, staring blankly at the old tree in the yard, she will come to her senses after a while, and her eyes will be a little moist.

The daughter of a duke was forced into hard labor on the frontier, but now she has a place to sleep peacefully again. This is normal and commonplace for others, but for her, it is something she never dared to dream of before.

Lu Rou is in charge of the accounts.

Lu Rouhe knew exactly what was going on: hospital bills, expenses for the medicinal herb garden, and the family's meals. She had been busy with purchasing these past few days and knew the city's pharmacies inside and out. Yesterday, she went to the countryside to buy a batch of Coptis chinensis. The pharmacy clerk there cheated her when quoting prices, quoting one and a half qian for one qian of herb and adding some powder to the medicine to increase its weight.

Lu Rou, with her abacus in hand, directly exposed their treacherous scheme.

"You call it top-grade when you add 30% dregs to Coptis chinensis?" Her eyes flashed seductively, and her lips curled into a slight smile.

"Sun's in the south of the city is offering a discount that you two can split!" she deliberately acted shamelessly. "I've checked three different stores, and I don't want to do business with you."

The waiter blushed with embarrassment and had no choice but to lower the price a bit...

"Oh dear! This accountant can't function without you!" Yang Hu said.

Lu Rou's face flushed red instantly, but she remained stubborn: "It's about my daughter."

Before, when she was in the Lu family, she always had to watch the young lady's expression before doing anything, and she was always timid and hesitant. Now that she has her own business, she is more able to take charge.

Liu Ye is in charge of the medicinal herb garden.

She single-handedly built that medicinal herb garden on the outskirts of the city. Every few days, she would send some of the herbs she grew to the city, and she would always return with a full load, such as two wild rabbits one day and a basket of freshly picked wild mushrooms the next.

The mushrooms were placed on the stove, and the blackened part of the cap was picked out, leaving only that part.

"This umbrella canopy is damp; it's useless now." She held up a herb and handed it to the young man who had come closer. "Identifying herbs is just like identifying medicine—the color, the smell, even the slightest difference is unacceptable!"

She used to be too restricted in the city, and she didn't dare to walk freely. She always felt too constrained, so when she went to the herb garden on the outskirts of the city, she could come back to life after walking just a few steps.

Yang Hu saw through her intentions and simply handed over the entire medicinal herb garden to her to manage.

She grew up in the mountains and knows more about herbs and geomancy than anyone else. Giving her a place where she can act wildly is better than keeping her locked up in a yard.

The most uneasy one is Qin Ying.

She was a "dead" princess who dared not leave the house for even a day. It was a little better in the village, but in the city, with so many neighbors, she would run into acquaintances all the time. After her family moved in, she was the one who was most inconvenienced.

"I don't like it here." She wiped the dagger in her hand.

But Yang Hu knew she didn't like it here.

It must be incredibly frustrating for someone who has commanded countless troops on the battlefield to be confined to a small courtyard, unable to even step out of the main courtyard.

He has an idea.

The empty space in the backyard was cleared out for her to meditate and practice her body. Liu Ye also told her that when they went to the herb garden in the suburbs, she should go along and pretend to be a cart driver covered in mud and grime so that she could breathe along the way.

Once, Yang Hu opened the door and walked into the backyard, just in time to see her after she finished practicing her martial arts. She was wearing a coarse linen short shirt, and her buttocks were firm as if they were rooted to the ground. Every punch and kick was powerful. Her martial arts skills were trained among thousands of troops. How could they be related to this square courtyard?

Upon seeing his arrival, she withdrew her movements as if it didn't matter and began wiping her knife.

Qin Ying didn't say anything.

However, when she returned from the herb garden that time, the faint sorrow on her face had faded somewhat. That evening, while she was wiping her knife, she suddenly said something inexplicably.

"I feel more comfortable living here."

"Hehe," Yang Hu laughed.

What do you mean by "getting it for free"? It's just talk.

Lu Yan's illness, Lu Rou's predicament...

And then there's Liu Ye, whose father died under the barbarian's blade; Qin Ying's entire family was wiped out, with no men left...

He has not forgotten a single one of them!

The people in this courtyard are all people he risked his life to save during this chaotic world.

In the evening, the family ate dinner together at a large table.

Lu Yan served the dishes, and Lu Rou remembered who liked which bite. Liu Ye stewed a pot of rabbit meat that smelled delicious. Qin Ying silently buried her head and ate, not saying a word.

Ah Ji, that little brat, is practically one of us, right? He eats the fastest, two bowls a meal!

Yang Hu looked at the room full of people and felt relieved.

He lived a peaceful and stable life, but he couldn't let go of the tension in his heart.

He'd been feeling strange these past few days.

The courtyard across the street, which had been empty for several months, suddenly had a new "family" move in these past two days.

They claimed to be running a small shop, but those people walked with their backs straight and their posture was very confident. Their eyes didn't look like those of ordinary business people. They were never seen doing anything all day, and the door, which was half-open, was often seen peeking in this direction.

Some familiar neighbors secretly told Lu Rou that in the past few days, a stranger came to the alley to inquire about the origins of those seats in Dr. Yang's house.

It was Qin Ying who was the first to catch a whiff of something.

"Those guys are from the military," she said, her hand wiping the knife freezing as her eyes turned cold. "Their ability to spot people is impeccable, every move is watertight, they're not the kind of people who guard the house for their masters."

Yang Hu has a plan.

The peace at the Zhao residence did not truly last.

They sent people to knock on the door to inquire about the situation, but they were turned away. So they switched to a covert approach, keeping watch and finding out the details, and silently surrounded the entire courtyard.

Zhao Yanei did not give up.

He didn't say a word, but told everyone in the courtyard to be careful when going out and to be vigilant when entering and leaving. Qin Ying even stopped going to the backyard altogether.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan's expression turned grim.

She's experienced the harsh treatment of officials.

"If it's bad to do it openly, then doing it covertly will be even more difficult!"

Yang Hu nodded.

He can cure diseases and save lives, detoxify and save lives, and even snatch people back from the jaws of death.

However, some eyes watching from the shadows cannot be cured or hidden.

The secrets inside this courtyard are more important than those in the city.

If the person hiding in the shadows were to move even an inch closer, sooner or later they would uncover his secret, which he could no longer conceal.

At night, the wind howled, and the old locust tree in the corner of the yard rustled.

Yang Hu was unaware that those who were watching the street would then move from that street into the clinic's main entrance.