The next morning, after breakfast.
Li Shuchen handed over his tasks to the imperial envoy Li Yuanxiu, freeing up time to copy medical texts.
Qi Huan enthusiastically joined in.
The two sat at the desk, each wielding a wolf-hair brush, converting the folded pages of the medical texts into traditional characters and transcribing them onto paper.
From dawn to dusk, they worked tirelessly, stopping only for meals and bathroom breaks.
Inside the room.
The flickering yellow candlelight danced as Qi Huan chatted with her system: "System, search for desk lamps."
"Certainly, host. Would you like rechargeable or battery-powered?"
"Both, of course!"
Whoosh—
A package suddenly appeared.
Li Shuchen glanced over, casually handing her his sword before returning his attention to copying the medical texts.
The sword was used to open the package.
Qi Huan felt sorry for the precious blade.
She carefully placed Li Shuchen's sword on the table, then took out her Swiss Army knife to cut open the box. She took the rechargeable lamp into her spatial inventory and plugged it into the USB port in the cockpit to charge.
Then, she returned to the room.
She took out the batteries she had obtained earlier, installed them in the battery-powered lamp, and placed it beside Li Shuchen.
As he was about to move it towards her, she suddenly produced another identical lamp.
The bright white bulbs, more radiant than night pearls, illuminated the desk as if it were daytime.
Qi Huan disposed of the packaging, chewed on her pen, and resumed writing furiously.
In the quiet night, the lamplight cast their shadows together, huddled close, working side by side.
After three days of relentless effort, they finally finished copying all the medical texts.
Qi Huan rubbed her sore wrists, suddenly startled as Li Shuchen gently took her hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.
"Thank you for your hard work, Ah Huan. I thank you on behalf of the people of Yunzhou."
"You've worked hard too, Ah Shu. I also thank you on behalf of the people of Yunzhou."
She giggled, giving Li Shuchen a playful push. "Go quickly and deliver the medical texts to Seventeen Yan. Let him start developing a prescription to combat this plague as soon as possible."
With that, she slipped into her spatial inventory and followed Li Shuchen once again to the separate courtyard housing the plague patients—the quarantine area.
Yan Qinghe accompanied them as before.
He still carried a bottle of alcohol, and the moment he saw Seventeen Yan, he raised the spray bottle and doused him thoroughly.
Not a single hair was spared.
Reeking of alcohol, Seventeen Yan entered the gatehouse, but his face lit up with joy at the sight of the medical texts.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Neither I nor the city's doctors have studied the plague in depth before. With these medical texts, we can learn from the experiences of our predecessors and will surely make twice the progress with half the effort."
Li Shuchen's lips curled into a slight smile. "Make haste."
"Yes, sir!"
Meanwhile, Qi Huan received a notification for her good deed: "Act of kindness +1, Points +10000."
"Previously, I got ten thousand points for each medical book I contributed. Now I've contributed several books, why am I only getting ten thousand points?"
"Because they all address the same issue and have limited applicability, they've been combined into a single good deed, rewarding you with ten thousand points."
... After a fruitless argument, Qi Huan finally had to accept reality.
Adding to her previous points from donating masks and alcohol, she now had over sixty thousand points.
The system, somewhat envious, tentatively asked: "Host, may I say something?"
"If you shouldn't say it, then don't."
After a moment of silence, the system persevered:
"Dear host, through thick and thin, our bond is true. Can you spare some points for me too? True affection exists in this world, this humble system seeks your love unfurled."
"No. Not happening."
"You're heartless, you're cold, boo-hoo-hoo."
"Mute whiny mode!"
Qi Huan said with a gentle smile.
She hummed a tune in her spatial inventory, the melody traveling through the necklace to Li Shuchen's ears, softening his expression.
Li Shuchen held the reins with one hand while the other touched the pendant beneath his clothes. He whispered softly, "I'll take you home now."
On the way back, white joss paper fluttered through the city streets. The plague had claimed many more lives in recent days.
Although masks and alcohol had been distributed, the stifling heat often led people to remove their masks for a breath of fresh air, becoming infected while queuing for water and food rations.
As joss paper fluttered and wails of grief filled the air, Li Shuchen pressed his lips together and turned his horse around to find Li Yuanxiu.
"You have sufficient manpower. For now, change to distributing water and food rations door-to-door. Leave them at the doorstep, knock, and let the residents collect them themselves. This will prevent infection from queuing."
"Increase patrols in the city and prohibit residents from wandering without reason. The same applies to the refugee camp outside the city. Have them move their tents further apart and forbid unnecessary gatherings."
After hearing this, Li Yuanxiu smiled instead of responding, elegantly waving his fan. "I had barely arrived when the plague followed. Don't you find that suspicious?"
"I'm speaking to the imperial envoy Li Yuanxiu now, not the Prince of Shun's son, Li Yuanxiu."
After a brief exchange of glances, Li Yuanxiu looked away, suddenly smiling, his peach blossom eyes rippling like water.
He closed his fan and tapped it against his palm. "Very well, Imperial Envoy Li Yuanxiu accepts the command."
This plague had been instigated by his father, the Prince of Shun, intending to disrupt the newly restored order in Yunzhou. Firstly, because they had failed to secure the position of Yunzhou's prefect for one of their own, and secondly, to cause trouble for Li Shuchen, not wanting to see him gain merit for managing the drought. Ideally, they hoped he would contract the plague and die from it.
Li Yuanxiu sighed silently, the scorching sunlight unable to penetrate the desolation in his heart.
Too many people had already died in Yunzhou.
Unable to dissuade his father, he could only do his best to atone for his father's sins.
Hearing his well-coordinated arrangements, Li Shuchen stood to take his leave.
Upon returning home, he bathed and changed clothes before calling out to Qi Huan.
"Ah Huan, come out and practice calligraphy."
Qi Huan, frightened, quickly retreated.
Li Shuchen, at a loss, had to change his approach. "Come out and let me hold you."
Qi Huan appeared instantly, wrapping her arms around his slender waist, looking up with a smile like a cat who'd stolen cream.
A moment later, she couldn't smile anymore.
She found herself carried by Li Shuchen to the writing desk.
"Diligence leads to mastery, while play leads to ruin. Your handwriting has regressed; you need more practice."
As it happened, he had arranged all his affairs and had a few days of leisure to accompany her.
Qi Huan clung to him in horror, shaking her head. "I don't want to."
After copying medical texts for days, her hands felt like they might fall off. She had no desire to study at the moment.
She clung to Li Shuchen with arms and legs, refusing to let go.
Li Shuchen found himself burning up from her proximity.
Qi Huan sheepishly let go of his hand and sat obediently at the desk. "I'm going to practice calligraphy now, okay?"
"......"
The next day, fearing that Li Shuchen might ask her to practice calligraphy again, she decided to take the initiative.
She asked Yan Wu for a set of Go pieces and cheerfully said to Li Shuchen, "The four arts of the Chinese scholar are music, Go, calligraphy, and painting. We can't just practice calligraphy. Let's play Go today."
After Li Shuchen nodded in agreement, she set up the board and took the white stones. "Let's play Gomoku. Whoever gets five stones in a row wins."
Li Shuchen made a sound of agreement. His original intention wasn't to cultivate her into some refined lady of talent; he simply wanted to spend time with her, doing whatever she liked.
If she enjoyed playing Go, then they would play Go.
If she wanted to change the rules, they would follow her rules.
As long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.
Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe also gathered around to watch the game.
Qi Huan lost game after game, and the two observers sighed along with her, eagerly offering advice.
"You should place your stone here."
"No, it should go there."
Qi Huan bluntly replied, "You're both wrong!"
She frowned and, with more confidence than logic, said to Li Shuchen, "Shu, go easy on me."
Seeing her taking advantage of his affection, Li Shuchen smiled and nodded. After she placed her stone, he deliberately put his piece in the corner of the board.
Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe were dumbfounded.
Could the game be played like this?
They wanted to play too!
And they wanted to play for money!
When they expressed their desire, Qi Huan graciously vacated her seat, brought over a small round stool, and sat next to Li Shuchen, indicating that she was on his team.
Two against two, it was fair.
Despite Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe's strategizing, they still lost so badly they nearly lost their trousers.
After a few days of laughter and fun, something unexpected happened at the Infirmary.
