A crown princess who doesn't do infrastructure construction isn't a good doctor.

The person who came in looked to be no more than thirty years old, relatively young compared to most established doctors, and also quite good-looking; even wearing a linen outfit couldn't hide his charisma.

Prince An was about to offer him a seat, but as soon as he saw Qin Suiyou, he froze and didn't move.

With doubt in his heart, Prince An tentatively asked, "Mr. Li, do you know Suiyou...?"

Upon hearing this, the man standing in the middle hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your Highness, if he is the one who is to treat the Crown Prince and the young prince, then I will no longer intervene."

Prince An was somewhat flustered. He feared that Mr. Li might mind him seeking treatment from two doctors for the same illness, so he explained, "Mr. Li, Suiyou has a way to treat Yan'er's injuries. It was Suiyou who helped when Rui'er suddenly developed a fever..."

“Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand,” Mr. Li stopped Prince An from speaking. “What I mean is that I am ashamed to admit that his medical skills are far inferior to his, and he doesn’t need my assistance at all.”

"But if you're willing, I'd still like to shamelessly observe and learn a thing or two."

These words were spoken to Qin Suiyou, and after speaking, he respectfully bowed with his hands clasped.

Looking at the scene before him, Prince An seemed somewhat dazed.

Mr. Li is a somewhat reclusive person. He was rescued by Prince An after being robbed by bandits. Wanting to repay the kindness but having no place to stay, he thought of becoming a free physician at Prince An's mansion for a period of time as a way of repaying the debt. However, he was troubled by the injuries and illnesses of the Beitang brothers and has been staying at Prince An's mansion ever since.

After all this time, when had Prince An ever seen the aloof Mr. Li speak to someone with such a respectful tone? Previously, he had always been indifferent and disdainful towards the imperial physicians who came from the palace.

However, this not only indicates that Mr. Li knew Qin Suiyou, but also shows that Qin Suiyou really had remarkable medical skills, even though he was not yet twenty years old!

To be honest, Prince An still had doubts about Qin Suiyou's medical skills. After all, the best he had shown was that he could only get Beitang Yan to take the medicine willingly. But now that Mr. Li was someone who knew him well, Prince An had truly rekindled his hope for his son's injury.

"Mr. Li, you flatter me. Suiyou is still young and needs your guidance."

Seeing Qin Suiyou's modesty, Mr. Li said helplessly, "Young Master Qin's medical skills are superb. I should learn from you. After all, not everyone can save a city ravaged by plague in just half a month."

Prince An was greatly alarmed. Two years ago, a plague broke out in a city south of Beiqian. The plague was so fierce that no one was able to do anything about it. Just when the emperor was about to order the burning of the city, a young divine doctor came and contributed a better medicine to cure the plague. He also organized more effective isolation and taught the uninfected residents of the city many ways to prevent the epidemic, which brought the epidemic under control in just half a month.

Before Mr. Li arrived in Yejing during that plague, his hometown was not far from the city, so he went to work as a volunteer doctor. By chance, he met Qin Suiyou, who was wearing a mask, and later followed him to witness the plague treatment process that still amazes him to this day.

Qin Suiyou did not stop Mr. Li from exposing his true identity, after all, he needed to gain the trust of Prince An before he could act freely.

Prince An was indeed more convinced, and he felt a fatherly affection for Qin Suiyou. In his imagination, Qin Suiyou was a pitiful little man with superb medical skills who still couldn't save his family and desperately craved affection. Later, when Qin Suiyou learned the true nature of Prince An, he couldn't understand how such a handsome and refined gentleman could actually be someone who was prone to overthinking and always had an overactive fatherly mentality.

At this time, Qin Suiyou did not know the true nature of Prince An. Looking at his extremely gentle expression, he assumed that Prince An had put aside his doubts.

After they finished speaking, Qin Suiyou and Mr. Li left Shianyuan and headed to their respective residences.

It was common knowledge that apart from the Princess Consort, there were no other female relatives in the backyard of the Prince An's mansion. Therefore, Mr. Li lived directly in the backyard to make it easier to take care of the patient. However, in order to have enough space to grow and tend to medicinal herbs, the location of his residence, Yuqing Courtyard, was relatively remote. It was not far from Wutong Courtyard, so he and Qin Suiyou walked a long way together.

As Mr. Li walked, he glanced at Jinzhu, Liujia, and Jinwen following behind Qin Suiyou, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"Mr. Li, please speak your mind. They are my people, and there's nothing I can't listen to."

The three were quite surprised to hear this. Did their lord trust them so much? These were their true thoughts, but Mr. Li didn't think so much about it.

"Young Master Qin, what brings you to Yejing? And, you've even married into the Prince An's household!"

He couldn't understand it at all. He didn't know much about Qin Suiyou's background, but he was definitely not a pitiful little guy who had suffered a great disaster and could only rely on his uncle.

Qin Suiyou didn't say much, "I have my reasons, and I ask Mr. Li to keep other matters confidential for the time being."

Mr. Li knew what he was referring to. Before the epidemic was under control, a large amount of medicinal materials and supplies were transported from outside the city, but not in Qin Suiyou's name. They were only said to be donated by a kind-hearted wealthy merchant. However, Mr. Li, who had been following Qin Suiyou, knew the truth.

"Mr. Li naturally kept his mouth shut." Mr. Li regretted his impulsive statement earlier that Qin Suiyou was a great hero in the fight against the epidemic, fearing that his slip of the tongue might have ruined Qin Suiyou's career.

"However, please don't call me Mr. Li anymore. I am not worthy of the title of 'Mr' in front of you."

Qin Suiyou chuckled softly, "If I don't call you Mr. Li, am I supposed to just call you Li Yuanyuan?"

"This……"

Mr. Li... let's call him Li Yuanyuan instead. He has a twin brother. I don't know what his parents were thinking when they named the two brothers Li Tuantuan and Li Yuanyuan.

Li Yuanyuan felt that her name was too soft and slightly feminine, and she was often ashamed to mention it to outsiders. If she had to say it, she would omit one character and say it as Li Yuan. Qin Suiyou and the others only learned her real name from an old doctor from her hometown who was also doing free medical consultations. Her brother Li Tuantuan was different. Although he had grown into a strong man who was obsessed with martial arts, he didn't feel anything about having a name that didn't match his appearance.

Looking at the three servants who were following not far away and had clearly heard everything, Li Yuanyuan was filled with shame and indignation. However, she maintained a good facade, making it impossible for anyone to see her true thoughts. Nevertheless, the three servants behind her could still faintly hear Li Yuanyuan's pleas for mercy.

"Young Master Qin, please spare me, at least give me some face..."

The group looked at each other, all showing surprise.

Qin Suiyou walked on his own without replying to Li Yuanyuan, which startled him so much that he didn't even look where he was going. He followed Qin Suiyou's steps, begging him repeatedly not to reveal his real name.

When they reached a fork in the road, Qin Suiyou suddenly turned around. Li Yuanyuan hurriedly stopped, almost tripping over herself. After regaining her balance, she cautiously looked at Qin Suiyou.

"You want me to keep it a secret, huh?"

"Ah."

Li Yuanyuan nodded decisively.

Qin Suiyou smiled and said, "It's not impossible, but... I want something."

"what?"

Li Yuanyuan looked wary, afraid that the person in front of her might reveal some of his precious possessions.

"Don't worry, I don't want your treasures. Just make a copy of the 'Ten Thousand Herbs Manual' for me on ordinary paper and with ink."

Li Yuanyuan's eyes widened. The "Compendium of Herbs" was a collection of known herbs and rare medicinal materials he had discovered through years of travel. He had categorized these herbs into different types, and not only did he meticulously mark the properties, uses, growing environment, collection precautions, cultivation methods, and processing methods of each herb, but he also added his own illustrations. By now, the stack of those books would be at least half the height of an adult.

When I was organizing it little by little at the beginning, I didn't feel anything, but if I asked him to copy it all over again now, it would be exhausting!

"No, no, you know how much the 'Compendium of Herbs' is. Copying it again would be exhausting. If you really can't, you can just take it and read it. Just remember to return it to me after you've finished reading it."

Qin Suiyou shook his head. He had brought the "Ten Thousand Herbs Manual" for Beitang Xinyue to study. Although he himself had a book on medicine, it was not as detailed as Li Yuanyuan's, especially regarding rare and precious medicinal herbs. However, Qin Suiyou also knew that Li Yuanyuan had used insect-proof and waterproof Fuyang bamboo paper to ensure that the "Ten Thousand Herbs Manual" would be preserved long enough before he stopped writing it. The paper alone was worth a fortune, regardless of the content. Moreover, the ink used for writing was the extremely precious tung oil ink from Huizhou.

Qin Suiyou was also embarrassed to use Li Yuanyuan's original book casually, so he came up with a compromise.

“Copying everything is indeed difficult. How about this, I only need the ‘Rare Treasures Scroll,’ and I can borrow the rest to read when I need them.”

During negotiations, you need to raise your demands to an initial level that the other party finds difficult to accept, and then reluctantly lower them. This will make the other party accept them more quickly.

Li Yuanyuan looked helpless but dared not say anything.

"Okay, I'll give it to you within ten days."

After saying that, he walked towards his own yard.

Qin Suiyou looked at his retreating figure with innocent eyes, "Actually, I originally wanted to say that it would be fine to give it to me within a month."

After all, Beitang Xinyue probably won't learn about rare medicinal herbs so quickly.

Qin Suiyou turned around and looked at Jinzhu, Liu Jia, and Jinwen. His gaze swept over them indifferently, and he said nothing.

Immediately afterwards, the three of them said in unison, "This servant will keep my mouth shut."

After saying this, Jinzhu, who was the oldest among both the maids and servants, said, "This servant is not only a servant of Wutong Courtyard, but also a servant of my master from now on. I will never have any disloyal thoughts."

Liu Jiajin echoed her words. They didn't know what had happened before, but the conversation between Qin Suiyou and Li Yuanyuan was enough for them to know that Qin Suiyou was by no means simple. Whether it was his previous kindness or the remarkable qualities he had inadvertently displayed, it made these maids and servants determined to be loyal to the person in front of them, including the few who hadn't come.

"That's right. As long as you don't have any crooked thoughts in the future, you'll get your share."

Qin Suiyou was slightly relieved. Subordinates shouldn't be too stupid. If they can't even express loyalty, they'll only be a hindrance.

Qin Suiyou led Jinzhu and the other two back to Wutong Courtyard. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Lu Xi with her butt sticking out, lying on the stone table in the courtyard, talking to Lan Ya and Zhu Yu about something. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice him standing right behind them.

"I thought you'd slipped away somewhere, but you've come back all by yourself to slack off."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Lu Xi subconsciously straightened his posture. In his eyes, Youyou was good in every way, except that he was burdened and couldn't stand seeing people around him with crooked or unseemly postures.

Lan Ya and Zhu Yu realized that the person who came was Qin Suiyou, and hurriedly bowed.

Lu Xi straightened up and stood up before realizing who was speaking. She stamped her foot and turned around.

"It's because you chatted with the prince and princess for so long that I was bored to death outside. Besides, I was thinking of coming back to keep an eye on them and make sure they didn't clumsily break the treasures."

He glanced at the two people beside him, his tone threatening: "Did I make sure you finished your work before we started chatting? Hmm?"

Lan Ya and Zhu Yu exchanged a glance, then both looked at their master.

Qin Suiyou pretended not to see Lu Xi's indignant expression: "Just tell the truth. Don't be afraid of offending him. I'll back you up."

Lan Ya was the youngest, but she was daring. Once she had a backer, she betrayed Lu Xi in an instant.

"Reporting to my lord, Brother Lu did indeed keep an eye on our work, but he must have had a bad night's rest. He fell asleep on the table before we even finished half of it. He must have worked really hard."

Lu Xi: Gritting his teeth...

"I left the three of them to wait for you, you're so stingy."

The truth is, Jinwen and the other two followed the rules and did not agree when Lu Xi urged them to leave together.

Qin Suiyou knew his childlike nature all too well. Apart from sleeping, he was unlikely to stay still in a place with little entertainment for more than an incense stick's time. So he raised his hand and gave him a light tap on the forehead.

"Things are different now. It's fine in the Prince's mansion, but remember to follow the rules when you go out."

Thinking of something, Lu Xi rubbed the spot where she had been hit, no longer showing any sign of grievance.

"Okay, I won't do it again next time. What about the reward you promised me..."

Watching the interaction between the two, the five people next to them were astonished: The master treats Brother Lu so well, like his own younger brother. Which servant would dare to act so coquettishly towards his master?

They inadvertently stumbled upon the truth. Putting aside their way of getting along, just look at Lu Xi's clothes. It was normal that he hadn't changed into the uniform and rank-based servants' clothes when he first arrived at the Prince's Mansion. But his own clothes, at first glance, seemed ordinary and without any problems. However, upon closer inspection, one could tell that the material was unusual. Having stayed at the Prince's Mansion for more than a year, the head maid had taught them how to identify low-key nobles, for fear that they might offend someone they couldn't afford to offend, which would not only damage the reputation of the Prince's Mansion but also cause unnecessary trouble.

After spending half a day together, the ten people who came to Wutong Courtyard unanimously agreed that Lu Xi's status was definitely more than just a personal attendant, at least in Qin Suiyou's eyes.

After dismissing the five people, Qin Suiyou and Lu Xi entered the small hall of the side room. They had just taken a sip of tea when they saw Jinwen come in.

"My lord, the young master's personal attendant, Gao Yu, wishes to see you."

There was no need to close the gate in the courtyard during the day. Qin Suiyou could see a man dressed in first-class servant's clothes standing outside the gate by turning his head.

"Let him in."

Gao Yu entered and gave a respectful bow.

"Your servant Gao Yu greets Your Majesty."

Qin Suiyou quickly and discreetly sized up Gao Yu. Judging from his figure, he was the same person who had slept on the small couch last night. Looking at him now, his gait was steady and powerful, yet his steps were light and silent, suggesting he was a martial arts practitioner. He had the delicate features of a fair-skinned scholar, and he looked somewhat familiar. Connecting this to the name Jin Wen had mentioned earlier, he understood the origin of that familiarity.

After asking him to stand up, he asked what was the matter.

Gao Yu replied, "This servant is the young master's personal attendant, so it is only right that I come to pay my respects to my lord."

Qin Suiyou raised an eyebrow slightly, "Just a simple visit?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gao Yu knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Your servant begs your master to save your lord! Your lord is wise and mighty, and should not be ruined by the schemes of treacherous people at such a young age."

Qin Suiyou asked in confusion, "Did His Highness send someone to tell you that I was going to treat the young master's injuries?"

"Your Majesty?"

Gao Yu frowned, but then her expression brightened with surprise.

"Your Highness must know that the Lord is skilled in medicine. Now that the Lord is going to treat the Lord's injuries, this servant is relieved."

Lu Xi, who was standing to the side, let out a soft "Eh".

"According to you, the Prince hasn't sent anyone to Wutong Courtyard yet, so how do you know that the Lord is skilled in medicine?"

"This servant had the honor of seeing my lord treat patients infected with the plague in Xinyang City, and I admired him greatly. When Mr. Li was also helpless with my master's injury, I even went to look for your whereabouts, but I could not find you. I never expected to see you in the courtyard just now. This servant is good at recognizing people by their figure and recognized you at a glance as the divine doctor who brought new life to Xinyang City. So I hurriedly came to pay my respects."

Xinyang City is the city that Li Yuanyuan mentioned half an hour ago. It was almost burned down because of the severe epidemic. It was originally called Yangcheng. After escaping death, the newly appointed governor changed it to this new name, which may or may not be considered thoughtful.

"I see."

Understanding the reason, and remembering that the person was still kneeling on the ground, Qin Suiyou told him to get up.

Gao Yu didn't get up; instead, her head slammed against the floor.

"If my lord can heal my wounds, Gao Yu will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Qin Suiyou couldn't help but chuckle. "You are indeed loyal. Not to mention that I have already promised my father, now that the Crown Prince is my husband, I will naturally do my best. You are in such a hurry, people who don't know might think that you have some feelings for the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Gao Yu looked up abruptly, stammering, "No, no, my lord, please don't misunderstand. I was just... just worried about your injury, and besides, I have someone I love!"

Gao Yu was anxious and helpless, and also embarrassed and annoyed to have revealed some secrets. Her face turned red, and her voice unconsciously grew louder as she spoke.

Lu Xi, who was watching the spectacle, never expected Gao Yu to be so easily amused, and that a single teasing remark would bring up her sweetheart.

Just as Lu Xi was about to gossip, Qin Suiyou, seeing through his intentions, quickly told Gao Yu to get up, said a few words of comfort, and then sent someone back to take care of Beitang Yan.

After everyone left, Qin Suiyou poked Lu Xi's forehead and said, "Stop gossiping. They were just in a hurry today and didn't have time to think. Be careful, or they'll come after you when they realize what's going on."

Lu Xi angrily rebuked, "You were the one who teased him first, so why are you shifting the blame onto me?"

……