A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Chu Shaoyang, standing behind her, saw Nie Qianqian intently examining the ice surface and reminded her, "Doctor Qian, the ice here has broken; please be extremely careful."

Nie Qianqian glanced back at him, then turned and left without a word, only to be stopped by Chu Shaoyang: "Doctor Qian, it's been a long time. How have you been? Why are you leaving without saying a word?"

Nie Qianqian had no goodwill whatsoever towards this son of a high-ranking official from the capital, and bluntly retorted, "How have you been? It seems that nothing good ever comes from meeting you."

Chu Shaoyang was not annoyed, but smiled faintly: "Today I have witnessed Doctor Qian's martial arts skills again, which has left a deep impression on me."

Nie Qianqian thought to herself: This girl has already set her sights on you, and you're still chatting idly. She said helplessly, "With Young Master Chu's martial arts skills, it wouldn't be difficult to save her, but you don't have a suitable whip, so you can't use that method. If I weren't here, Young Master Chu would probably have to jump into the water to save her himself, and he would have suffered quite a bit."

Chu Shaoyang was taken aback—indeed, if it weren't for Doctor Qian today, he would have definitely jumped into the water and carried Jiang Muxin ashore. If it really came to that, with a man and a woman alone together, things would be difficult to handle afterwards.

Seeing that he was in a daze, Nie Qianqian thought that she had left it at that and let him figure it out on his own. So she didn't say anything more and turned to leave: "I have to go and get medicine for Miss Jiang, so I won't keep you company."

This time, Chu Shaoyang did not stop him, but stared at the broken ice surface and fell into deep thought.

Jiang Muxin returned to her room, trembling with anger—whether from extreme rage or the lingering chill, she couldn't tell. She had already taken a hot bath and changed into clean, warm clothes, but her limbs still trembled uncontrollably. How cold the lake water was in winter! The biting cold seemed to seep into her very bones. That jump must have hurt her, and she wondered if it would leave her with any lasting health problems.

She went to such great lengths, risking her health and reputation, all to get engaged to Chu Shaoyang, but all of that was ruined by that Doctor Qian!

Huan'er came in carrying a bowl of medicine and said softly, "Miss, please drink this medicine. It was prescribed for you by Doctor Qian. It can dispel the cold."

The moment she heard the words "Doctor Qian," Jiang Muxin abruptly looked up, her eyes fixed on the bowl of medicine. Then, she raised her hand and smashed the bowl over with a "crack." The medicine spilled all over the floor, and the porcelain bowl shattered. "I won't take his medicine! I won't take his medicine!"

Huan'er hurriedly squatted down to pick up the broken porcelain shards on the ground. Jiang Muxin called out to her, "Huan'er! What exactly did you do about this? How could Doctor Qian be there? You know how important this is to me!"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but cough violently again. The cold air seemed to have damaged her lungs, making her chest ache and her face grow even paler.

Huan'er quickly stood up and gently patted her back, saying urgently, "Miss, it really wasn't my fault! I told the maids and servants in the manor early this morning that the three masters were enjoying the snow at the lakeside pavilion today, and no one was allowed to approach or disturb them. Who knew that Doctor Qian would be strolling there in this freezing weather at noon, and then this happened... This really wasn't something I could have predicted!"

Jiang Muxin's heart churned with hatred, as if a raging fire was burning in her chest. Overwhelmed by the rage, her vision blurred, and she nearly fainted again. She forced a few coughs, and Huan'er advised, "Miss, Doctor Qian ruined your plans, so it's understandable that you resent him. But Doctor Qian's medical skills are truly remarkable. You fell into icy water in the dead of winter; don't push yourself and hurt yourself. Why don't you drink your medicine first?"

Jiang Muxin clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white. After a long silence, she gritted her teeth and said, "Okay."

Huan'er didn't dare delay and quickly reheated the medicine and brought it over. Jiang Muxin tilted her head back and drank the medicine in one gulp. As soon as the medicine entered her stomach, a warm feeling spread through her body, and the chill seemed to dissipate a little, and her cough lessened. But she felt no gratitude whatsoever, only resentment—it ruined her plans, so what if the medicine was effective? Although she was drinking Doctor Qian's medicine, she held this grudge firmly in her heart.

Jiang Muxin said in a deep voice, "Huan'er, go and urge the investigation results in Fulin County. No matter how much money it takes to bribe them, you must dig out all the secrets behind Doctor Qian! I want to see what kind of person he really is!"

Inside Wei Susu's room, after listening to Jiang Lingyang recount the events at the Lakeside Pavilion, Wei Susu remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Lingyang said, "I just went to see Mu Xin. She's fine; she just caught a cold. You shouldn't go see her. You're also weak, and it would be bad if you both passed on your illnesses."

Wei Susu was stunned for a moment, then called over her personal maid Qiu Niang and whispered something in her ear.

Qiu Niang accepted the order and left. Jiang Lingyang asked curiously, "Is there anything Madam says that I cannot listen to?"

Wei Susu said softly, "It's just to have him go see Muxin and give her some advice on things related to women. You don't need to know."

Jiang Lingyang nodded after hearing this and did not ask any further questions.

After a while, Qiu Niang hurried back and whispered something in Wei Susu's ear.

Upon hearing this, Wei Susu showed no expression. After pondering for a moment, she got up to change her clothes.

Jiang Lingyang thought he needed to go see Mu Xin, so he quickly advised, "Su Su, you don't need to go."

Wei Susu said, "I'm not going to see Muxin."

Jiang Lingyang was taken aback: "Then what are you going to do?"

Wei Susu said, "I want to see Chu Shaoyang. You should change your clothes and come with me."

Jiang Lingyang was even more surprised: "Go see Chu Shaoyang? How...how do you do that?"

She found today's events somewhat strange, but she couldn't share these speculations with her husband.

Although Jiang Muxin was not her biological daughter, she was the daughter she had raised and nurtured for more than ten years, and she knew Muxin's personality better than anyone else.

Mu Xin dislikes the cold and prefers warmth. She has never liked the cold of winter and would never have the leisure to sit around a stove to brew tea and enjoy the snow in winter.

If Chu Shaoyang had brought this up, it would have made sense, but it was Mu Xin who brought it up first, which is rather strange.

Furthermore, in the dead of winter, the ice in the center of the lake should have been thick. Mu Xin was light and agile, so how could she have gotten into trouble while walking on it?

Of course, it could all just be a coincidence.

To verify her guesses, she asked Qiu Niang to go to the riverbank to observe whether there were any abnormalities in the cracks on the ice.

Qiu Niang reported that because a section of the lake surface had cracked, and then doctors from the Qian family came to the rescue, large areas had collapsed, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Perhaps it really is just a coincidence.

She didn't believe Jiang Muxin would use such a method; she still trusted her daughter.

However, this incident served as a wake-up call for her.

As a mother, she failed to make proper plans for her daughter's marriage and instead became a burden to her daughter due to her own poor health.

Therefore, regardless of the truth, she insisted on personally visiting Chu Shaoyang to arrange a marriage between Jiang Muxin and Chu Shaoyang.