The system forced me to blow up the female lead's fishpond.

"Xiao Hang is ignorant. If I'm not mistaken, this should be a pill made by the retired physician Qu. It is said that this medicine is extremely rare and hard to come by."

Who in this world doesn't love to hear praise? Qu Yuanye heard this and smiled faintly, saying with satisfaction, "Indeed, I have achieved quite a bit."

"This medicine was made by me, but I didn't know it had such a high value in the outside world."

"You, your pills? Could it be that you, you are—" Xiao Hang's breathing suddenly quickened, and deep admiration welled up in his eyes.

He forced himself to stand up despite his injuries, then suddenly knelt down, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Doctor Qu, for saving my life. I will always remember this kindness and repay you if I have the chance in the future."

Qu Yuanye smiled and waved his hand, helping him up from the ground. "No need for thanks. Healing the sick and saving lives is a doctor's duty."

Xiao Hang gratefully accepted the pills and took them.

Shen Zhizhi stood there in a daze, as if she had unintentionally pushed the plot forward.

When I went to find Xiao Hang a few days ago, he didn't recognize Doctor Qu. I never expected that I would get to know him through my own efforts.

Chu Chouchi looked slightly taken aback and stared at Qu Yuanye with suspicion for a long time.

Although I know very little about the affairs of the martial arts world, judging from Xiao Hang's reaction, this doctor must be no ordinary person.

He was already quite surprised that she had taken a doctor as her master, and now that he learned that the person she had apprenticed to was such a highly respected figure in the martial arts world, he couldn't help but frown.

Why would this legendary healer take her as his apprentice? As far as he knew, she shouldn't know anything about medicine. Could this person have ulterior motives?

"Now that Brother Xiao is out of danger, come and have something to eat," Shen Zhizhi's voice broke the slightly heavy atmosphere.

Xiao Hang stood up, walked steadily to the table, gazed at the bowl of wontons, and felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

Chu Chouchi remained lost in his own thoughts, his dark eyes fixed on Qu Yuanye, as if trying to discern some clues from his face.

However, Qu Yuanye remained calm and composed, as if he had not noticed Qu Yuanye's scrutiny.

Shen Zhizhi looked at Chu Chouchi's appearance with a puzzled expression, and waved to him, "Second Prince, come and have some."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chouchi slightly withdrew his gaze, walked slowly to the table, sat down, stared at the bowl of wontons, but did not immediately pick up his chopsticks.

Shen Zhizhi knew he didn't like this kind of food, so she didn't try to persuade him further and simply sat down to eat her own.

"Hmph." Qu Yuanye ladled out a bowl of wontons, giving him a cold glance. "Second Prince, if you have something on your mind, you might as well speak frankly. Why are you staring at me like that for the entire afternoon?"

Shen Zhizhi almost spat out the wonton she had just put in her mouth because of Qu Yuanye's voice.

When will these two ever stop? They can't even have a peaceful meal of wontons.

Chu Chouchi reached out and touched the black mole on the side of his nose, his phoenix eyes full of probing. "The name of Doctor Qu is known to everyone in the martial arts world, but she has never studied medicine. Why did you take her as your apprentice?"

Qu Yuanye was well aware of this. From the first day she entered the Miaoshou Hall, he knew that she had no talent whatsoever.

However, this young woman looked so much like Zhu Yue that the more he looked at her, the more he liked her. He couldn't help but want to keep her in the clinic so that he could chat with her for a while when he was tired.

If he hadn't investigated and learned that this girl was the illegitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family, he would almost have believed that she was his and Zhu Yue's biological daughter.

Thinking of this, Qu Yuanye took a sip of wonton soup, squinting his eyes contentedly, "The matter of taking on a disciple depends entirely on fate. She is kind-hearted and has a connection with me, so I took her in. There are no other reasons."

In the blink of an eye, Chu Chouchi's face darkened, his dark eyes fixed on him for a moment before he stood up and grabbed Shen Zhizhi's wrist.

Caught off guard by the sudden force, Shen Zhizhi, still with the wonton in her mouth, could only puff out her cheeks and look at him, mumbling indistinctly:

"Second Prince, what's wrong?"

Chu Chouchi suppressed his cold gaze, turned to her, and was about to reprimand her for not trusting people easily in the future.

Her eyes were wide open, her cheeks puffed out, and she looked both adorable and somewhat comical, making it hard to be too serious.

He could only lower his voice and whisper, "This person has ulterior motives. Who knows if he has ill intentions in accepting you as his disciple? Don't come here again."

Shen Zhizhi was taken aback, swallowed the wonton in her mouth, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, you have misunderstood Master. Master treats me very well and has no ill intentions. Besides, I only willingly became his disciple because I had something to ask of him."

Upon hearing this, the dark ink in Chu Chou's red eyes seemed to deepen. He gritted his teeth in displeasure and said in a low voice, "You have something to ask of me? What is it that I cannot solve for you? Why do you need an outsider like him to interfere?"

"It's Zhang—"

Just as Shen Zhizhi was about to explain, she suddenly remembered that Chu Chouchi in the original story had no idea that Zhang Jiali had been poisoned since childhood.

Never mind, she should try her best not to mess up the plot.

Thinking of this, she pulled her wrist away from his hand and reassuringly pulled him back to his seat. "Anyway, I just want to ask Master to help my friend detoxify. Doctor Qu is a famous doctor, even more skilled than the imperial physicians in the palace."

Most importantly, he can cure Zhang Jiali's illness! Ah! Ah!

Qu Yuanye had finished his wontons by now. He picked up a white handkerchief and gently wiped the corner of his mouth. His eyes were fixed on Chu Chouchi with a deep gaze. "A teacher for a day is a father for life. If you ask me, the real outsider is probably you, Second Prince."

Having finally calmed down, Chu Chouchi reacted with fury upon hearing this blatant provocation.

His narrow phoenix eyes narrowed instantly, and a chilling aura enveloped the entire hall. "Heh, how long have you known her, and how long have I known her? Isn't it obvious who the outsider is?"

Qu Yuanye was not afraid of Chu Chouchi's anger at all. He slightly lifted his eyelids and said, "The length of time you have known her is not enough to prove anything. Although Your Highness has known her for a long time, in the face of this master-disciple relationship, Your Highness is really an outsider."

Chu Chouchi laughed in anger, the wooden spoon he was holding snapped in two with a 'crack', his eyes were pure black, "What a master-disciple relationship, I'd like to see how long you can be a master."

Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere between the two, Shen Zhizhi wished she could cry out to the heavens, and could only turn her gaze to Xiao Hang, who was eating heartily at the table.

"..." Xiao Hang remained silent for a long time before burying his face in the bowl.

One of them is the Crown Prince, whom he cannot afford to offend.

One of them was his savior, whom he couldn't afford to offend.

Shen Zhizhi's lips twitched violently, knowing that Xiao Hang couldn't be relied on and she could only rely on herself.

She slammed her hand on the table, her face darkening, and shouted, "Stop arguing! Stop arguing! What's there to argue about! Be quiet!"

The two men were stunned by the roar, and after a moment, they looked up and stared straight at her.

Looking at those two pairs of cold, dark eyes, Shen Zhizhi's previous momentum instantly diminished by more than half.

She slowly sat down, forcing an awkward smile.

"Uh, well, you guys continue, you guys continue."

Qu Yuanye snorted and turned his head away, while Chu Chouchi narrowed his phoenix eyes, his expression still unfriendly.

Xiao Hang stood to the side, barely daring to breathe, silently eating his wontons.

But in his heart he was thinking that this situation was really hard to handle.

......