C13 Chapter 13

He’s still breathing!

As a doctor, Chu Jiuge had her own principles and professional standards. She wouldn’t rush in to treat every patient she saw, but she could never stand by and watch someone die when she could help.

She had seen Xie Xuan’s condition clearly. He was having an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe. He looked dead, but he was only in a state of suspended animation. He could still be saved, but if too much time passed, he really would stop breathing for good.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Chu Jiuge lowered her spear. “I can save that man.”

“What?” The lead officer had been waiting for an opening to seize Chu Jiuge, but when he heard her words, he froze.

The three guards from the Xiao family were also stunned and couldn’t help giving Chu Jiuge another look.

Chu Jiuge ignored them. Taking advantage of their brief shock, she threw down her spear and ran toward Xie Xuan’s carriage. The Xiao family guards and the officers snapped out of it and moved to chase after her, but then they heard her shout to Xie Xuan’s people, “Your young master is still breathing!”

“What? You’re saying my young master is still breathing?” Beside Xie Xuan’s carriage, apart from his personal servant, several guards had been standing watch the whole time. After learning that Xie Xuan had stopped breathing, all of them had been grief-stricken. Hearing Chu Jiuge’s words, they were instantly shaken.

“Don’t listen to her nonsense! This young lady offended my family’s—” One of the Xiao family guards reached out to stop Chu Jiuge and refused to let her go any farther, but she dodged aside and avoided him.

The guards at Xie Xuan’s side immediately rushed over and stepped in front of Chu Jiuge. “Stop!”

“She’s just a—” The Xiao family guard tried to continue, but the Xie family guards wouldn’t listen. “If you make a move, then you’re trying to kill my young master. If anything happens to him, the Xie family... will never let this go.”

Among great families, who wasn’t overbearing? Who wasn’t strong-willed?

The Xie family ranked above the Xiao family. As if the Xie family would ever fear them.

Saving a life was like fighting a fire—every second counted. Chu Jiuge had no time to worry about what was happening behind her. She rushed to the carriage and shoved Xiao Jing’an and Yuen Yunhua aside when they tried to block her. “Move.”

“Chu Jiuge, how dare you!” Yuan Yunhua still had the riding crop in her hand and raised it to strike, but Xie Xuan’s other guard stopped her. “Miss Yunhua, if I were you, I wouldn’t lay a hand on her.” At the very least, not when this woman was claiming she could save their young master.

Yuan Yunhua really wasn’t very bright.

“Yunhua, don’t make trouble at a time like this.” Xiao Jing’an knew better than anyone how much the Xie family valued Xie Xuan. When it came to him, the Xie family had no principles and no bottom line.

Xie Xuan had already stopped breathing, yet Chu Jiuge insisted he was still alive. The Xie family didn’t believe her, but with even the slightest shred of hope, they wouldn’t let it slip away.

Xiao Jing’an gave Chu Jiuge a long look, finding her more foolish by the second.

The day before her wedding, she had written to him, asking him to run away with her. He had thought she was joking. If Yunhua hadn’t seen the letter and insisted they come to the city gate to take a look, he never would have known she was serious.

Running away together... that was a private matter. It would have been one thing if she had kept it private, but Chu Jiuge had no sense at all. She actually dared to go after both him and Yunhua. She clearly had a death wish.

And now, just to stay alive, Chu Jiuge was spouting nonsense, trying to latch onto Xie Xuan. It was ridiculous...

Whether Xie Xuan was still alive, he could see perfectly well. Chu Jiuge was done for this time.

Xie Xuan was Patriarch Xie’s most precious son. Even if his death had nothing to do with Chu Jiuge, the moment she involved herself now, it no longer mattered. Given how fiercely the Xie family protected their own and how quick they were to take their anger out on others, Chu Jiuge was as good as dead.

From the teahouse upstairs, the North Duke had not only seen Chu Jiuge’s movements but also heard what she said. He gently shook his head, set down his empty teacup, and turned to leave...