Chapter Eight: The Teacher (Part One)

Everyone knew the Fan family had powerful connections in the capital—who would dare provoke such a formidable figure? Yan Yuanqing heard their words and felt a chill settle in his heart, responding only with a sardonic laugh.

“That’s why you’d all be better off changing your surname!”

“To what, Shi? That would be an insult to you all!”

He cast a cold, sweeping glance over the crowd and snorted.

“As for Yuru, I’ll handle the matter myself. I have no need for your hollow sympathy or concern!”

With those words, Yan Yuanqing turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him.

Muttered curses followed in his wake.

“Bah! What an ill-mannered brat.”

Yet Ji Chunyan watched his departing figure with unmistakable regret. She regretted having humiliated him at the birthday banquet. At the very least, tonight she saw clearly—Yan Yuanqing cared for Shi Yuru more deeply than anyone else.

As he left, the Shi family made no offer to send a driver for him; he simply set out alone.

At the Fan residence, Fan Yongfeng had mobilized every resource at his disposal, summoning all the renowned physicians of Cangzhou. Both Chinese and Western doctors had come, but none had a solution.

“Stagnant blood syndrome—her blood and energy surge like a flood one moment and are still as a lake the next, wandering unpredictably through her body as though rampaging through the eight directions. Unless there is a master of internal energy who can use their power to clear and guide Miss Fan’s blocked meridians, I fear…!”

“There is grave danger to her life!”

A middle-aged man in white spoke the harsh truth.

Indeed, Shi Tianhe, with decades of medical experience, knew well the dangers of stagnant blood syndrome. Mild cases saw blood and energy reverse for a moment before self-correcting. Severe cases saw blood flow from every orifice—death on the spot. If the symptoms were minor, Shi Tianhe could manage with careful treatment, but now the blood in Miss Fan had stagnated throughout her body, with black plum-like marks beginning to connect. It was a sign of impending death.

At that moment, the Fan family’s steward hurried in with urgent news.

“Master, someone from the Shi family has arrived. He claims he can cure Miss Fan’s illness!”

Fan Yongfeng snorted at the report and waved his hand.

“Show him in!”

Hearing someone had arrived, the assembled doctors and family members brightened and followed outside. Shi Tianhe and Shi Yuru exchanged a glance, each wondering who it could be.

Then Fan Yongfeng gave a cold warning.

“Old Shi, Miss Shi—let me be clear: if this person saves Qing’er, we’ll settle any fee you ask. But if he fails…”

Fan Yongfeng’s eyes glinted with murderous intent.

“Every debt has its creditor. If my daughter dies, I’ll be sending the two of you with her!”

The chill in his gaze made them both shudder. There was no doubt—Fan Yongfeng was not joking.

Shi Yuru was anxious as well. In her heart, she hoped the visitor was Yan Yuanqing. For in all of Cangzhou, only he might have the skill to save Miss Fan. She didn’t know when she’d come to trust him so deeply, but she was certain of her intuition.

But when they entered the main hall and Fan Yongfeng saw who it was, his face turned ashen with fury.

He spun around and roared,

“Old Shi, are you all courting death? Is there no one left in the Shi family? You bring me this useless wretch! Who doesn’t know he’s a fool?”

“A fool, and yet a doctor? Are you deliberately trying to kill my daughter?!”

With his tirade unleashed, Fan Yongfeng’s eyes flashed dangerously, the cold glint fixed on Shi Tianhe.

Shi Tianhe was at a loss and hurried to explain.

“Director Fan, it’s not as you think. In fact, even the head of the Lian family was saved by him! Yuanqing was born into the Yan family, a lineage of traditional medicine. His grandfather and I are old friends!”

Fan Yongfeng snorted.

“The Yan family? How come I’ve never heard of such a medical clan? Any of you experts ever heard of them?”

He looked around at the assembled doctors.

These were all prominent figures from Cangzhou and beyond, men of broad knowledge. Yet when the Yan family was mentioned, they all shook their heads.

“The Yan family? Among the medical families I know, there’s none by that name!”

“Old Shi, are you just shirking responsibility by bringing in your foolish son-in-law to take the blame?”

The others laughed quietly, their words laced with mockery.

“What could a fool possibly know of medicine?”