Peerless Physician: The Path of a Foolish Eldest Daughter's Rise to Power

Upon arriving at the entrance of Li's Pharmacy, the shop assistant saw them and called out, "Manager, Miss Gu has arrived."

Doctor Li quickly came out to greet her. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Young lady, thank you for saving my wife."

"How is your wife's health now? I'd like to see her."

"No fever, stable condition."

Once inside, Gu Xinyue examined the wound and took her pulse. Everything was fine; she just needed to recover slowly.

"If you have any questions, just ask them now."

Dr. Li excitedly asked many questions, which Gu Xinyue answered one by one. In the end, he even proposed to become Gu Xinyue's apprentice.

Gu Xinyue flatly refused, "Medicine is a profound and complex field, and there are still many things I need to learn. In the future, we can exchange ideas, learn from each other, and make progress together."

Dr. Li was somewhat disappointed.

Gu Xinyue didn't want to take on an apprentice older than herself; she wanted to cultivate a younger apprentice who was both virtuous and talented.

"Dr. Li, could I borrow your medical books for a few days?"

Doctor Li paused for a moment, refusing to take him on as an apprentice and demanding his medical books. He sighed deeply and said, "Fine. What else do you need?"

"I will return your book to you after I finish reading it. I won't let you borrow it for nothing. If you encounter any problems in the future, come to me."

Doctor Li said with shining eyes, "Great. You can take any medicinal herbs you want from now on."

"Take whatever you want, but we still need the principal."

Seeing that Gu Xinyue didn't want to take the medicine for free and felt guilty for her earlier reluctance to lend the family's medical book, Doctor Li let her observe the entire treatment process and answered her questions one by one, assuring her that there would be similar opportunities in the future.

"Young lady, do you still want this pharmacy? I said the price of 500 taels is still the same."

“Wouldn’t you be losing a lot of money? I don’t want it anymore. Today I want to help you save your pharmacy. Don’t worry, the people of Shihu Town all hope that you can continue to run your pharmacy.”

Gu Xinyue happily took the three medical books and went home.

In the bedroom, Gu Xinyue picked up the whip and examined it carefully; it was made by her father himself.

When she was nine years old, she went to bed as usual, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned. The door creaked open, and she sat up alertly, seeing her father whom she hadn't seen for more than two years.

She excitedly wanted to shout "Daddy!" but Gu Siming quickly stepped forward and covered her mouth, whispering, "Yue'er, no one will know that Daddy is back. Don't disturb them."

Gu Xinyue nodded and happily hugged her father's neck, saying, "Father, Yue'er misses you, misses you so much."

"Father knows." He took out a whip. "Take a look and see if you like it. Father made it by hand."

"I like it." Then she hid in Gu Siming's arms and wouldn't come out, afraid that if she didn't hold her father tightly, he would disappear.

After a long silence, Gu Siming said solemnly, "Yue'er, this pendant is for you. Keep it safe and don't let anyone trick you into giving it away. You can take it out when you are able to protect it."

"Yes, Yue'er remembers, she won't let anyone take it away."

"Moon, be good and sleep well. Daddy has something very important to do. I'll come and keep you company when I'm done."

Gu Siming tucked his daughter in, gently patted her to sleep, and left when he heard her breathing.

She never saw her father again from that day on. Later, she learned from the gossip of the servants in the Marquis's mansion that her father had disappeared.

She felt a pang of sorrow. Where was her father now? Was her mother also missing him? What was her mother doing right now?

Missing loved ones is like the long night sky, silent and profound.

"Granny Liu, how many letters has Mother sent in total? Bring them here so I can take a look."

Granny Liu brought over a box. "Miss, it's all here."

After reading the letter, Gu Xinyue said, "Only three letters?"

“This was written by the lady during our first year here; she hasn’t written to us since.”

Did you reply to the letter?

"No, Madam did not reply."

"You're still very obedient, huh? Then tell me, why didn't your mother write to you after that?"

"I don't know," Granny Liu said weakly.

The letters were all instructing Granny Liu not to let her suffer any grievances, covering every little detail of daily life; each letter expressed a mother's deep affection for her daughter.

She looked at the letters over and over again and noticed a difference: all three letters were written by her mother, but the writing was getting worse with each one. Could it be that her mother couldn't write anymore and that's why she stopped writing letters later?

As she thought about it, she began to feel anxious. She folded the letter and prepared to put it in the box. A dazzling blue pendant lay quietly in the box. She picked it up and looked at it. This was the one her father had given her.

She took it outside to look at it, and it was even more dazzling than inside. There were two very small and faint characters on it, and she carefully deciphered the two characters "Iron Blood".

It was given to him by his father, and she liked it and felt it could protect her, so she wore it around her neck.

In the hall, Gu Xinyue gathered everyone together to discuss matters.

Adhering to the principle of rewarding first and then discussing matters, Gu Xinyue has not given them any bonuses in the past 5 years, which is also a form of compensation.

“I’ll give each of you 10 taels. What do you need? Go buy it yourselves. Granny Liu, you can give us the silver now.”

The crowd was delighted to receive the silver; after all, it had been five years since the young lady had been so generous.

"I have an announcement to make today: starting tomorrow, everyone will be required to study. I have already invited Scholar Li to be your tutor."

After he finished speaking, he observed everyone's expressions. Only Gu An was very excited, while the others didn't react much. Only Gu Wu was very frustrated, probably because he wasn't cut out for studying.

“Miss, we’re so old now, what if we don’t learn to read without any early education?” Gu Yang asked.

"Remember, of all professions, only studying is noble. It's never too late to start studying. I've hired a tutor, and I have requirements for your studies. At the very least, you should be able to write letters. As for how well you study, that depends on your own destiny."

"Gu Wu, what are your thoughts?"

“Miss, apart from our master and the shopkeeper, none of us read books and we still live well. Why do we need to study?”

It's said that all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is superior, and yet there are sayings like "you can't talk about ice with a summer insect." It seems that this logic doesn't hold water.

“We have plenty of time here in the village. If we don’t learn some skills, are we just going to eat and sleep all day?”

“Miss, no one in my family has ever been a scholar. I will study hard.”

"Alright. There are two rooms next to the west wing that are connected. Let's convert them into a study for everyone to read. Gu Ran, you take Gu Wu and Gu Yang to pack them up. Get everything ready except for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones."

"Miss," said Granny Liu. "Are they sure they can manage?"

"It has to be done, even if it's not allowed. Don't spoil them."

"Miss, this old servant should go and take a look."

"Go on, go on," Gu Xinyue said, waving her hand. Granny Liu quickly left.

Gu An stepped forward, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and said, "Thank you, Miss, for giving me the opportunity to study. I will certainly live up to your expectations."

"I believe in you and have high hopes for you. I want to write a letter to my grandfather. How long will it take to arrive, and will it even reach him?"

"Why doesn't Miss write to the Marquis?"

"There's something fishy going on at the Marquis's residence. Don't make any rash moves until you've investigated

"It should reach Old Master Yang in about a month."

Are you aware of what's going on at the manor?

"The Marquis allowed the two soldiers who were wounded and disabled on the battlefield to stay on the estate and made their lives easier for them."

"Quietly investigate the situation on the estate and see if there are any problems."

"I'll go check it out later."

"Investigate the Du family and find out where their granary is. Focus on that."

"Okay." Gu An said and left.

Li Fu arrived early, and Gu An invited him into the study, where he was quite satisfied with the layout. He inquired about the situation of several people.

When he learned that both Granny Li and Huilan were literate, Master Li was very surprised and asked, "Did your master teach you?"

Granny Liu said, "We came from the Yang family in the capital. All the servants in the Yang family are literate and have someone to teach them."

"Why are people from the Yang family in Shihou Town?"

“My wife is the daughter of Old Master Yang, and Miss is Old Master Yang’s granddaughter.”

"Mr. Yang Jing, the former headmaster of Qingshan Academy, was the tutor of the late emperor."

"Master, you are right."

"No wonder your young lady wants the servants to study. You are lucky to have such a master. So many people want their children to study to change the fate of their families, but the cost of education is high and they can't afford it."

Countless poor students dream of meeting someone like your master. Study hard and don't disappoint your young lady's heart.

The Master first taught them the strokes of characters, then how to write the horizontal stroke, and then began their education with the classics: the Three Hundred Characters, the Thousand Character Classic, and the Book of Changes. He said, "At the beginning of life, man is inherently good..."

Knowing that Granny Liu and Huilan had studied this before, they dismissed them early.

Gu Xinyue asked Granny Liu to prepare lunch for Huilan and encouraged the teacher and Gu An to have more conversations while she ate in the main room.

After lunch in the hall, the cheerful conversation made Gu Xinyue feel that life was pretty good this way.

Reality often doesn't go as planned.