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

Because the two courtyards were far apart, Princess An originally planned to let Qin Suiyou eat in the small kitchen of Wutong Courtyard, but the clever and mischievous girl Beitang Xinyue insisted on eating with her sister-in-law, claiming that it was to "cultivate their relationship".

Princess An couldn't persuade her daughter otherwise. After some thought, she realized that having breakfast together might disturb Qin Suiyou's sleep, and that he might have to walk through the night to return to Wutong Courtyard after dinner. Although the mansion was safe, it was still inconvenient. So, after Beitang Xinyue volunteered to send a message to Qin Suiyou, the group decided that from now on, the family would have lunch together, unless there were special circumstances.

Therefore, Qin Suiyou did not stay in the house for long at noon before taking Lu Xi to Shian Courtyard to have lunch with Prince An and his wife, as well as Beitang Xinyue.

Afterwards, Beitang Xinyue had to finish the lessons left by her female tutor, so she went back to her courtyard by herself.

Qin Suiyou and Prince An and his wife went to see Beitang Rui. The baby was sleeping soundly, his fair face flushed with a healthy rosy hue, clearly recovering well.

After examining the baby, Qin Suiyou suggested taking the pulse of Princess An. Before the princess could say anything, Prince An said, "It is time to examine your mother. Mr. Li has not examined her pulse for a long time, and we do not know if she has fully recovered."

Prince An's words contained a hint of dissatisfaction, but it was merely out of concern for his beloved wife's health, and was not a serious matter.

After all, Li Yuanyuan wouldn't usually take the initiative to help unless someone specifically asked her, especially given the difficult situation involving the Beitang brothers. After the Princess Consort of An finished her postpartum confinement, he only left her a prescription for recuperation, saying that she should take it for a month and she would be fine. Half a month ago, she went out to collect herbs without saying a word. If it weren't for the servants he arranged to take care of her, no one would know when she disappeared.

To show respect, Qin Suiyou took out a silk handkerchief from his small crossbody bag and placed it on Princess An's wrist before taking her pulse.

Three breaths later, Qin Suiyou had a plan, and he raised his hand to casually remove the silk handkerchief.

Prince An asked, "How is it?"

"The tonic prescribed by Mr. Li is effective, but its effects are not lasting. After drinking it for half a month, it will not be very effective and you can stop. I will prescribe another dose. Mother Consort can drink it every two days for another half month and that should be enough."

After putting away the silk handkerchief and taking another sip of tea, Qin Suiyou looked up and saw Princess An staring at him with hopeful eyes.

With a quick thought, Qin Suiyou understood the key point and smiled faintly.

"Don't worry, Mother, the medicine will definitely not taste bad."

Qin Suiyou thought to himself: I am a very empathetic doctor. I did not research so many ways to make medicine easier to take just because I also hate the taste of medicine.

Princess An raised her hand to cover her face, somewhat embarrassed, but the tonic that Mr. Li had prescribed earlier was really unpalatable, with almost every flavor imaginable: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty.

Thinking of changing the subject, Princess An lightly pointed to the side of Qin Suiyou and said, "Hey, your little bag looks quite ingenious. It should have a lot of space. If you make it nicer, it would be more useful than a purse."

Princess An often dabbled in needlework when she had nothing to do, making clothes for her husband and children. Prince An pitied her and didn't want her to work hard, so she mostly embroidered handkerchiefs and purses. However, she was quite perceptive about these items, and she was somewhat tempted by Qin Suiyou's crossbody bag, which was made to make it convenient to take some things from her space.

"I made it before because I was too lazy to carry my medicine box when I was practicing medicine. It was enough to hold some silver needles and emergency pills. I got used to carrying it around, and it also serves as a decoration on a daily basis."

Thinking of Beitang Xinyue, Qin Suiyou added, "If Mother Consort likes it, it's not difficult to make this. If there are embroiderers in the manor, I can tell her to make something lighter and more delicate. It can also be used as a book bag for Xinyue. When I teach her medicine, she will inevitably need to memorize a lot of medical books, and it will be convenient to carry it with her."

I only mentioned Beitang Xinyue because I felt that others might not need it. Prince An and his wife need to pay attention to their demeanor when they go out, Beitang Rui is still young, and Beitang Yan, who is still lying down, is even less of a concern.

However, Qin Suiyou couldn't help but let his thoughts wander: making some simple, large-capacity bags for the servants and maids would be a good idea, but if Prince An and his entourage need to carry slightly larger items when they go out, the crossbody bags might not be enough...

"No need, just tell me, I love making these little things."

Princess An was very enthusiastic. A few days ago, the weather turned cool, and she had only recently finished her postpartum confinement. She had been staying in the courtyard and hadn't gone out. There was nothing to amuse her or relieve her boredom, so she was quite depressed.

Prince An wanted to say something, but he had seen his beloved wife's mood these past few days, so he held back.

At this moment, the servant who had been instructed to fetch the paper returned, placed it neatly on the small table next to where Qin Suiyou was sitting, and then curtsied and stepped aside.

Originally, Prince An had sent someone to fetch the Four Treasures of the Study, but Qin Suiyou said that only one sheet of paper was needed, so he didn't send anyone else.

Qin Suiyou took out a narrow, long box from his bag, opened it, and picked up a thin black stick about the length of a palm. One end was round, and the other end was slightly sharpened.

Prince An and his wife watched as Qin Suiyou moved the small black stick across the paper with his right hand, while he dictated to Princess An how to make a crossbody bag.

In no time, the prescription appeared on the paper. The herbs, dosage, and instructions on decoction and administration were written on only half a sheet of paper, which was no bigger than two palms.

As soon as Qin Suiyou put down his pen, Prince An said, "Your pen looks quite unusual. Is it some new contraption from the south?"

Qin Suiyou replied, "It's in the south, but not in the south of Beiqian. It came from Zhongzhou City."

“Zhongzhou City? No wonder. In recent years, I wonder what kind of extraordinary person has emerged there. They always seem to come up with some rare things.”

Yejing and Zhongzhou City are far apart, and countless people treasured the things that came from Zhongzhou City. They even became a symbol of popularity, and the emperor was quite interested in them.

Qin Suiyou smiled and said, "If Father is interested, he can take a look."

Since it was inconvenient for him and Prince An to directly pass things to each other while they were seated in the main seats, he picked up a small black stick and handed it to a servant next to him so that the servant could pass it on.

"This is called a pencil. It is made of graphite wrapped in cork. When it gets dull, you can sharpen it with a knife and continue using it. It is very lightweight."

"it is good."

Prince An is quite curious about new things, but because he is rather indifferent by nature and no one dares to curry favor with him now, there are not many new things in his mansion.

"Hey, let me see the prescription too."

Prince An wasn't looking at the prescription for its contents; he just wanted to see what the effect of the writing would be.

Princess An was not interested in any of this. Recalling what Qin Suiyou had just said, she left the small hall first.

After a short while, Prince An finished admiring Qin Suiyou's calligraphy and praised, "Your calligraphy is quite good."

Next, I wanted to try writing with the pencil myself, but then I thought of giving up because I only had a piece of paper with me.

Qin Suiyou saw through his thoughts, and while reaching into his crossbody bag again, he said, "If Father wants to try now, you can write directly on the back. You can use this eraser to erase the pencil writing."

"One-Wipe White" is actually an improved version of an eraser. The name was originally suggested by Lu Xi, and the craftsmen who participated in its production particularly liked the name.

"A wipe of white? That's a brilliant name."

Taking the white cloth, Prince An examined the small, light yellow cube in his hand, which was only the size of a thumb. He squeezed it; it didn't deform, wasn't too soft, and was quite elastic.

"Can this little thing really erase writing?"

Prince An didn't expect a reply; it was just his habit to question things he didn't understand. He then said, "Then I'll try this pencil."

Having been used to holding a calligraphy brush, the Prince of An was somewhat at a loss when he suddenly switched to a pencil with a hard tip. He slowly tried to imitate Qin Suiyou's pen-holding technique and gradually got the hang of it.

He carefully wrote a slightly crooked character "安" (ān).

Prince An chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"Haha, I never thought that after writing for so many years, my handwriting would look so bad just from changing a pen."

Qin Suiyou said, "The pencil marks are fine and very different from those of a brush. They are essentially two different systems. It is not easy to develop a distinctive style and is not very suitable for practicing calligraphy. Apart from being convenient to carry when going out, it can be used for drawing."

The fact that calligraphy is not suitable for practice is based on the current era. In modern times, there is hard-pen calligraphy, but most people's understanding of pens now is based on soft-pen calligraphy, which is based on the brush.

To maintain his persona, Qin Suiyou had no choice but to turn a blind eye and comfort his slightly hurt elders.

Prince An was clearly pleased by Qin Suiyou's words and said with a smile, "That's right, there's a big difference between a brush and a pencil. It's also good at erasing white marks, and it erases very cleanly. So, can it be used to erase brushstrokes?"

Qin Suiyou shook his head, "It can't be erased. Usually, only pencil marks can be erased."

In modern times, some people use erasers to polish shoes, but ancient shoes did not have this unique function, so Qin Suiyou did not mention it.

Knowing that it couldn't be used for anything else, Prince An didn't dwell on it and returned the conversation to the pencil.

"If a pencil is used for drawing, it would be more suitable for drawing topographic maps."

Qin Suiyou nodded, "It is indeed suitable for maps, but pencil marks are easily erased, and the drawings do not last long."

"That's good too. When drawing topographic maps in the field, it's essential to have convenient access. Once the map is finished, you can bring it back and trace it again."

As the two chatted, the sun began to set. During the conversation, Qin Suiyou also discussed with Prince An the preparations needed to treat Beitang Yan's injuries.

First and foremost, we needed to prepare an operating room in advance. With current technology, we didn't need to do that much. We discussed what we could do and, considering the existing conditions, we called Li Yuanyuan over to discuss it. In the end, we decided to set up the operating room in the east wing of Yuqing Courtyard, where Li Yuanyuan was staying.

Immediately, Prince An instructed Gao Xiang to begin arranging for people to prepare the operating room, wards, and necessary equipment according to Qin Suiyou's requirements.

After having dinner together, the group returned to their respective courtyards.

When Qin Suiyou arrived at Wutong Courtyard, he saw Lu Xi, who had returned more than fifteen minutes later than him, and asked, "How did it go? Any new information from Lu Yu?"

Lu Xi didn't sneak out to play this time. In the afternoon, she formally reported to Princess An and obtained a token before swaggering out through the main gate.

After handing Qin Suiyou a stack of papers with many words written on them, he said, "This is the general information about Chief Minister Chu and his family. Lu Yu said that if you want more detailed information, he will investigate further."

The information in my hand, though described as approximate, was actually quite detailed. I counted ten pages, all written in relatively small characters on paper about the same size as the paper Qin Suiyou used to write the prescription that afternoon.

"No need, this is enough. If we keep investigating, we might even find out how many times someone wet the bed as a child."

Lu Xi shrugged and said, "Lu Yu was just saying that; he just likes to show off his abilities."

After saying that, he even pretended to purse his lips in disgust.

"By the way, where are they?"

"They said we'd arrive in Yejing in three days, and I've brought everything you asked me to bring, more than I should have."

Qin Suiyou nodded, "Alright, when you go back to the Qin residence tomorrow for your homecoming, go see Lu Yu again and ask him to find a way to spread some news..."

After hearing Qin Suiyou's words, Lu Xi expressed his confusion.

Why spread this?

Qin Suiyou didn't answer, but smiled mysteriously and said, "You'll find out when the time comes."