With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

Upon hearing Pei Jinxuan's words, the shopkeeper forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Highness, please calm down. I will make the arrangements immediately."

He walked to the corner and called out to the old doctor who was resting.

The old doctor had been resting with his eyes closed when the shopkeeper whispered something in his ear. He almost jumped up, shook his head vigorously, and was about to take his leave with his hands clasped in front of him.

The shopkeeper was sweating profusely, bowing and winking repeatedly. Finally, he pointed towards Pei Jinxuan and whispered something in the old doctor's ear. Only then did the old doctor reluctantly sit back down under the free clinic signboard, his face long and drawn.

Seeing his ashen face, Lin Ci thought that it wouldn't be long before this old doctor would be in her line to have his pulse taken.

Finally, it was the woman carrying the child's turn. She was dressed in tattered clothes, but her clothes were clean and had creases, probably because she had brought her best piece of clothing from the bottom of her trunk.

The old doctor took the child's pulse, stroked his long beard, and shook his head.

The woman's eyes instantly reddened, and she knelt down with a thud.

"I am thirty-two years old this year. My husband and I have been waiting for over ten years. We've even tried the incense ash from the Goddess of Fertility and every folk remedy imaginable. We finally conceived this precious child at the age of thirty. Please, please save her! If she's gone, our whole family will perish!"

As she spoke, the woman sat on the doorstep, holding her child, and burst into tears. The little girl in her arms was so thin that she was skin and bones, and her cries were so weak that they sounded like a cat's meow. Her sobbing and whimpering were pitiful.

The old doctor was already exhausted and had no patience to persuade him. He bluntly said, "Your child has a congenital deficiency, and I really can't do anything about it."

"Is there any other way? Even a folk remedy will do!"

The old doctor waved his hands repeatedly, "It's incurable, incurable. Next..."

The woman became anxious, grabbed the old doctor's trouser leg and wouldn't let go, put her daughter on the ground and started kowtowing.

"Please have mercy and save my child! I'm begging you!"

"This lady, even if you kowtow until your head breaks, it won't help. If it can't be cured, it can't be cured."

The burly man behind them grew impatient and yelled, "I already said it's incurable! What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and take your brat and leave, don't hold up other people's medical time!"

As soon as he started speaking, several people joined in the commotion: "That's right, there are so many people waiting behind us!"

"Hurry, hurry!"

"..."

The woman's face was ashen. She choked back tears as she picked up her daughter, and just as she was about to bow and step back, the child, having cried for so long, couldn't catch her breath and fainted.

The woman was terrified. Unable to wake the child, she knelt down in front of the door, looked up at the sky and cried out in anguish.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and took the baby girl from her arms.

The woman was stunned, thinking someone was trying to snatch her child, and lunged forward frantically, yelling, "What are you doing! Why are you trying to take my child!"

Lin Ci ignored her. She touched the girl's chest and pounded it twice. When there was no response, she lifted the child's chin to open her airway, and then pressed her hands together firmly and rhythmically against the small chest.

One time, two times, dozens of times.

The little girl let out a soft whimper and slowly opened her eyes. Upon seeing a strange face, she started crying again, reaching out her little hand towards the woman.

Lin Ci gently returned the child to the woman.

The woman held her daughter as if she were holding a lost treasure that had been found again, her whole body trembling. She banged her head on the ground with a loud thud.

"The Bodhisattva has appeared! The Bodhisattva has appeared!"

She called out, it was unclear whether she was thanking God or the person in front of her.

Seeing this, the old doctor snorted, flicked his sleeves, and got up, refusing to continue his examination.

The people waiting outside became restless again when they saw the doctor leave.

The shopkeeper, with a pained expression, waved his hands repeatedly, "Calm down, calm down!"

Pei Jinxuan strode up to the old doctor, grabbed his arm, and forcefully pulled him back. "You're staying here today, you're not allowed to leave."

"I'm getting old, and I really can't see all these people. Please don't make things difficult for this old man." With that, the old doctor stood up again and refused to sit down again.

Lin Ci sighed, walked to the chair, and sat down.

She straightened the writing brush and ink on the table, and then laid the pulse pillow flat, her movements neither hurried nor slow.

Upon seeing this, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and he quickly announced loudly, "Fellow villagers, this is the esteemed guest of our Cheng'an Hall's Old Master Xu, the Prince of Jing'an! The Prince of Jing'an cares deeply for the people and has specially brought a renowned doctor to treat everyone!" As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Pei Jinxuan.

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances; this was someone they rarely saw on ordinary days.

The burly man who had just cursed Pei Jinxuan turned green with rage. He didn't even bother to see a doctor and ran away, covering his face.

After regaining their senses, everyone knelt down and shouted, "Thank you, Prince Jing'an! Long live Prince Jing'an!"

Pei Jinxuan was quite helpless. He reached out to help them up and said with a smile, "Fellow villagers, please rise. Today, I have been ordered by His Majesty to invite a renowned doctor to provide free medical consultations for you. Please line up in order and don't make a mess." After saying that, he turned around and gave the shopkeeper a cold glare.

The shopkeeper bowed and scraped, chuckling obsequiously, then put on a pitiful, aggrieved face. "Your Highness, I had no other choice."

The woman, holding her daughter, squeezed in front of Lin Ci with a mixture of surprise and joy. "My son has been sick for a long time and hasn't gotten better. Please, doctor, take a look."

Lin Ci smiled and pinched the little girl's face. She was much thinner than the average child, with hardly any flesh on her face.

She took her daughter's pulse for a while and said, "Your daughter does indeed have a congenital deficiency."

These words saved the old doctor's face, but the old doctor, with his nostrils flared, snorted.

The woman's brows furrowed again.

Lin Ci continued, "Congenital deficiencies are difficult to cure completely; we can only try our best to preserve them. I'll prescribe a formula for you to take twice a day. It can't guarantee a complete cure, but it will give her more strength. Remember, your daughter shouldn't overwork herself, and it's best if she can eat an egg every day."

The woman accepted the prescription with profuse thanks, but after taking a few steps, she stopped again, her face full of worry.

People like them can't afford to eat eggs.

Pei Jinxuan, observing this, pulled the shopkeeper aside and whispered, "Do you recognize this woman?"

"Yes, I recognize it," the shopkeeper nodded vigorously.

"Send her some rice and noodles later, and two chickens too. Put the bill on the tab at the Jing'an Prince's residence."

"Oh dear, how could I dare accept Your Highness's money! Old Master Xu said that you can come to pick up the medicine free of charge."

Pei Jinxuan snorted coldly, "That old man really knows how to calculate. If it weren't for the fact that he had rendered meritorious service to the late emperor, I wouldn't have let this go so easily today."

The shopkeeper kept smiling and nodding in agreement.

Lin Ci sat in the chair at the free clinic for half an hour. The number of people queuing up did not decrease; on the contrary, it grew larger and larger.

Pei Jinxuan disregarded the prince's dignity and sat beside her, helping her pour tea, write prescriptions, and fetch medicine, doing the work of an apprentice. The people saw this and gave him a thumbs up, praising Prince Jing'an for caring about the people and having a benevolent heart.

Just then, a burst of wailing and crying suddenly erupted from the crowd.

The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man in his thirties, dressed in tattered clothes, with a large burn scar on his face.

He cried and cried out, "Gods and Gods! My father and brothers have been burned alive by evil men! I have nowhere to turn for help! Who can give me a way to survive?"

Lin Ci looked up when she heard the sound, and when she saw the burned face, her hand that was taking the pulse stopped.