After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

After all the preliminary examinations were completed, when they returned to the Ning Mansion, only a faint blue ribbon remained on the horizon, and the moon hung in the sky.

Ning Nan shook his slightly sore neck, rubbed his face, and only when he got off the carriage did he realize that an uninvited guest had arrived at the Ning residence.

Inside the flower hall.

Wearing a green embroidered dress, Chunyu took small steps as she served tea to the other person.

"Brother Ning!"

As Ning Nan stepped into the flower hall, a woman's joyful cry rang out.

At first glance, a woman wearing a light blue cross-collar short jacket and a pale yellow horse-face skirt tied around her waist suddenly stood up from her chair.

The woman had her black hair tied up, with a few stray strands falling across her forehead. She had a clean and neat demeanor, giving her an otherworldly air.

Seeing that he had finally returned, her almond-shaped eyes lit up.

"I wish you great success in your endeavors, Brother Ning." She smiled and curtsied.

Ning Nan immediately returned the greeting with a smile, clasping his hands in a fist and palm salute, saying, "Thank you, Doctor Jiang."

After several months, the female doctor with the oval face looked the same as before, except that she had lost some weight, and... perhaps because she had been collecting herbs all over the place, she had also become a little darker... Of course, compared to Vice Minister Qin, Doctor Jiang was as white as snow.

On the carved table in the center of the flower hall sits an old-fashioned boxwood medicine box, the very one that Doctor Jiang always carries on his back.

Ning Nan quickly gestured for Doctor Jiang to sit down, and Chun Yu and Qiu Mu served some tea and snacks on the table.

After a long separation, the two reminisced for a while, each with their own feelings.

Jiang Sixue held a teacup in her slender hands, the aroma of tea wafting towards her, the steam rising gently. When she left the capital, the North-South Poetry Gathering had just ended, and this farm boy had just begun to gain fame.

After spending half a month in Fuzhou, she wrote a letter to greet her friend Ning Beizhi. Soon after, she received a reply from Ning Beizhi, who said that the young Ning who stood up for her at the North-South Poetry Society was actually her relative! And her nephew!

This sudden news shocked Jiang Sixue.

Later, she heard that something had happened to Bei Zhi's family, that the Second Young Master Ning had passed away, and that Bei Zhi was in poor health. She specially sent a letter back, asking a junior sister in the capital to convey her regards and to examine Bei Zhi's illness.

Jiang Sixue sighed with emotion. She never expected that in the blink of an eye, this country boy doctor would gain such a great reputation. It was truly astonishing.

After catching up, Ning Nan sighed and offered a cup of tea to Doctor Jiang instead of wine.

"On behalf of my great-uncle, Elder Ling, I, Ning, thank Doctor Jiang and my esteemed teacher for saving my life." He spoke solemnly, downing the tea in one gulp, his throat bobbing.

I heard from my great-aunt that in addition to having many hidden injuries, my great-uncle also had a chronic cough. He would usually endure it in front of others, but he would only cough in front of my great-aunt.

This old ailment was recently mostly cured by the doctor, and Uncle's energy and spirits have improved a lot, which surprised and delighted him.

Seeing the other party sincerely offer tea, Jiang Sixue's expression became complicated. She didn't say much, but just took a sip of tea to express her gratitude.

After a moment's hesitation, she bit her lip, opened the boxwood medicine box, and took out a bamboo tube.

Ning Nan stared at the familiar bamboo tube for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Penicillium... ointment?" He suddenly remembered that when he treated Miss Zhu, he had indeed left a lot of it in this bamboo tube, which had apparently been left in Doctor Jiang's medicine box.

Doctor Jiang raised the bamboo tube and smiled, saying, "Brother Ning, if we're talking about the greatest contributor to curing Marquis Jingbei, it should be you."

Ning Nan was stunned for a moment. The other person smiled and explained that he and his apprentice had cured their uncle's illness using this penicillin ointment. Ning Nan suddenly understood.

Immediately, Doctor Jiang Sixue took out a letter, which was a handwritten letter from her master.

"Brother Ning, please take a look."

Ning Nan accepted the letter with both hands, opened it, and read it. The letter stated that the renowned physician hoped he would generously share the prescription for this medicine, and offered a large sum of money in return.

He added that if anyone encountered any difficulties, there was no need to provide a prescription; simply providing some of this medicine would suffice, and a generous reward would be offered in return. After reading this, Ning Nan couldn't help but let out a soft "Eh," and frowned slightly.

The female doctor, who had been traveling back and forth between Fujian and Zhejiang for months, saw the other party's predicament and couldn't help but blush. She sighed inwardly, feeling that she had indeed intended to seize the family's secret skills.

She and her master learned of the medicine's miraculous effects by chance. At the time, she was collecting herbs with her master in Fuzhou when she saw a person suffering from a cold, coughing, having a high fever, and vomiting. The person's symptoms were quite similar to those of Miss Zhu Qingmian. The person looked like they were dying, and her senior brother diagnosed that the person's illness was incurable.

She mustered her courage and applied the penicillin ointment to the man... Unexpectedly, the medicine was remarkably effective, and the man's condition gradually improved.

My master was also in the village at the time, and he was filled with doubt and uncertainty for several days. My master came out to collect herbs and search for a cure in order to find out if there was any way to cure the old Marquis Jingbei and prolong his life.

After standing on the ridge of the field and thinking for a while, the master made a decision and arranged for his disciple to find a villager in the vicinity with symptoms similar to those of the Marquis of Jingbei. After trying it, they found that the villager's long-standing cough had improved a lot as a result.

The eighty-year-old master was overjoyed. He set up his singing stall at the village entrance, smiling broadly as he sang for the entire afternoon, saying, "That kid Ning Changling is saved now!"

But a day later, a fellow disciple found another villager with the same symptoms. The master waved his hand, his white beard fluttering, and triumphantly poured out a little more medicine for the villager to take. Unexpectedly, this time a strange thing happened... The man's breathing became rapid, large patches of red rashes appeared on his body, and his face became extremely pale... The life-saving medicine seemed to have suddenly become a harmful poison!

Fortunately, the master saw that there wasn't much medicine, so he used very little. With the senior brother's careful care, the person gradually recovered after a few days.

After returning to the capital, the master, carrying about ten medical books, stayed in the pharmacy for seven whole days, trying each of the thousands of herbs in the pharmacy to find the formula for the medicine... After searching for seven whole days, the old man, who was extremely competitive and unwilling to go directly to ask the master, finally gave up.

After leaving the pass, he was planning to take her to seek guidance from Ning Baixuan.

Just then, the soon-to-be-abdicated emperor suddenly fell seriously ill, his liver qi rising upwards, and he fainted! His master led her into the palace under the cover of night.

The Emperor Emeritus's usual ailments were also coughing and general weakness, but they were much more severe than those of the Marquis of Jingbei, and he often coughed up blood. The Master had long since given up hope, but he was on good terms with the Emperor Longchang, and seeing the Emperor's talented and ambitious grandson end up in such a state, he couldn't help but shed tears, his heart filled with bitterness.

The master took out his needle set and inserted needles into the Emperor's Zhongchong and Baihui acupoints. The Emperor slowly woke up, his face pale. He glanced at the master and said with a smile, "Physician, there's no need to worry. Zhu Boqing's funeral arrangements are complete... He's dead, so be it."

In her desperation, the master ripped out a handful of white hair, gritted her teeth, and, with a desperate hope, applied a little of the penicillin ointment to the Emperor… Immediately, the master and she, along with the head of the Imperial Medical Academy and others, anxiously waited by the Emperor's bedside. After a quarter of an hour, seeing that no red rash had appeared on the Emperor's body, the master felt much relieved…