Craniotomy and a Crowd Seeking to Observe Brain Surgery

Serena Feng didn't notice anything unusual about Felix Fuller. She squeezed his hand, and with genuine warmth said, "Congratulations. You’ve made it out of danger. Both your leg and your life are safe now."

In this battle against death itself, Felix was the one who won. As a doctor and as someone who’s seen real miracles, Serena was truly happy for him.

Not every patient is as lucky as Felix. In all her years of medicine, Serena had only ever seen one case like this.

"Thank you," Felix mumbled, barely hearing Serena’s words. His whole mind was focused on the warmth of her hand in his—her palm cool on the back, warm at the center, sending a strange tingling through him.

"Don’t thank me. I didn’t do much. This is all the result of your own fight to survive. If you hadn’t had such a strong will to live, and such a solid constitution, you wouldn’t have pulled through." Serena added, "Of course, the palace’s mountain of rare medicines helped too. Without those, even if you wanted to live, you wouldn’t have made it."

Willpower matters, but it’s not everything. You can want to live with all your heart and still not make it. Not everyone can fight death and win just by wanting it.

After she finished speaking, Serena let go of his hand. Felix seemed almost reluctant, quietly clenching his own hand as if to hold onto the warmth for just a moment longer.

Serena didn’t dwell on it. She released Felix’s hand, turned to the three imperial physicians, and said, "Gentlemen, Lord Fuller is awake. Please check his pulse and draft a follow-up treatment plan."

"Yes, yes, of course—Miss Feng is absolutely right." Serena’s words broke the awkwardness for the three imperial doctors. They snapped back to professional mode, immediately checking Felix’s pulse and discussing his prescriptions.

The three physicians moved quickly, trying to brush past the awkward scene. Felix lay there, bare-chested, letting them work, but his eyes drifted past them, landing on Serena.

Felix Fuller was genuinely curious about what Serena Feng was thinking. He wasn't the Emperor, and he didn't believe for a second that Lance Quinn exposed the truth about the City Lord of Night City’s death just to clear Serena's name, with her completely in the dark.

Felix was certain Serena knew full well that he was the one who framed her for the City Lord’s murder. Yet even under these circumstances, Serena saved him without the slightest hesitation.

He could see that, although Serena wasn’t exactly thrilled, she never once harbored any malicious intent toward him from start to finish.

“She really is a contradictory woman.” In the end, that was all Felix could say.

Felix Fuller’s leg was saved, and his life was out of danger. The Emperor was overjoyed and showered Serena Feng with gifts that same day. But Serena refused to take all the credit, instead sharing it with the imperial physicians, insisting that Felix survived thanks to their collective expertise.

After working together these past two days, the imperial physicians who’d interacted with Serena Feng all agreed she was remarkable—her skills and ethics were top-notch, and most importantly, she never kept her knowledge to herself. During their time together, they learned plenty of practical new methods from her.

Even when they’d tried to make her the scapegoat before, Serena Feng hadn’t gotten angry. For such a young and capable doctor—especially a woman—they felt embarrassed to make things difficult for her. The imperial physicians grew increasingly friendly toward Serena.

At the very least, next time something went wrong, none of the imperial physicians would throw Serena Feng under the bus. In other words, they’d finally accepted her as a peer. From now on, Serena was part of their inner circle.

Serena Feng was more than satisfied with this result. Building good relationships with colleagues wasn’t easy, but it was better not to make enemies where you didn’t have to. People might not help you, but they could sabotage you in a heartbeat.

Serena was easy to get along with, and so were the imperial physicians. She prepared a thermometer and stethoscope for each of them, and explained their uses and how to operate them.

The imperial physicians had mastered the art of diagnosis by sight, sound, and touch, but as they aged, mistakes were inevitable. Eyes could see, hands could feel, but nothing beat hard numbers for accuracy.

They treasured Serena Feng’s gifts. Several imperial physicians couldn’t wait to show off their new tools at home, letting their wives and children take turns measuring their temperatures just for fun.

As the saying goes, you can't bite the hand that feeds you. Serena Feng had given them gifts and shared the credit; how could they not be pleased? For days, the imperial physicians praised her as a doctor with boundless potential. If only she were a man, they said, she could found her own school and dominate the medical world.

Though the comment belittled women, Serena Feng didn’t take offense. Whether in the Nine Provinces Realm or back in China, the top ranks in every field were mostly men. Female leaders were rare enough to be written about, and truly exceptional ones even rarer.

Sometimes, women really were at a disadvantage, and even Serena Feng couldn’t change that. She had no desire to compete with men for status.

With Felix Fuller recovering, all he needed now was rest. Serena Feng had no intention of fighting for credit with the imperial physicians. Since the Emperor stopped sending for her, she simply stopped going. After several days of this, there were five days left until the Riding and Archery Duel.

Serena had planned to practice her riding, but after what happened that night, she was reluctant to go out. Worried that something might happen during the competition, she decided to schedule Victor Yun’s craniotomy within the next five days.

Victor Yun’s health had been carefully restored, the Young family pharmacy was stable, his mother’s pregnancy secure, and everything was running smoothly. Victor’s good mood made everything better.

When Serena Feng’s message arrived, Victor’s heart skipped a beat, but he put on a calm front and agreed with effortless grace. He said he’d settle his household affairs and come tomorrow.

Victor Yun thought he was prepared for surgery, but when the moment actually arrived, fear crept in. This was brain surgery—one wrong move and his life could be forfeit.

People always fear the unknown, no matter how composed they seem. Even Victor Yun couldn’t help but feel tense and uneasy. Serena Feng understood this well—she didn’t go herself to comfort Victor, but instead sent Holden Cui to the Young family to chat with him and help him relax.

Very few people knew Serena Feng was about to perform a craniotomy on Victor Yun, but rumors still leaked out. At least a few imperial physicians caught wind of it.

After all, many people knew about Victor Yun’s condition. A little digging revealed Serena was going to treat him, and several imperial physicians immediately grew restless with anticipation.

Back when Serena Feng treated William Wang Jinling’s eyes, plenty of people were curious, but the Wang family and General Warren Yu were too powerful—no one dared barge in.

This time, no one wanted to miss out. The physicians were even more curious about how Serena would handle Victor Yun’s surgery. So a group gathered at the Imperial Medical Directorate to plot how they might persuade Serena to let them watch—they promised just to observe quietly, not say a word…