The sun was blazing high. Gongsun Yin looked at Fan Changyu, who stood a few steps away, and suddenly wondered if something was wrong with his own ears.

He asked again in disbelief, “Who hunted it?”

The men of the Cook Battalion all grinned and said, “Why, it was Miss Fan!”

Gongsun Yin looked at the black bear, massive as a small mountain, then at Fan Changyu’s slender arms and legs, clearly struggling to imagine how Fan Changyu could have hunted and killed this black bear.

Previously, hearing that Fan Changyu had gone down the mountain, raided the enemy camp, and seized a lot of provisions, in Gongsun Yin’s understanding, it probably meant Fan Changyu had accompanied Xie Wu and the others on a risky venture, offering strategies and guiding them to seize the supplies.

When she slaughtered a pig earlier, because he had already heard from Carpenter Zhao about her skills, and since several small soldiers from the Cook Battalion had helped hold the boar down, he had merely thought Fan Changyu was unlike ordinary women.

But now, being told suddenly that she had hunted a bear, Gongsun Yin felt a trace of confusion toward all his past assumptions. He asked, “How did Miss Fan hunt it?”

One soldier who had gone hunting with Fan Changyu that morning immediately answered excitedly: “We found the tracks of a large beast in the forest, initially thinking it was a wild boar. We followed the tracks, hoping to find its lair, but unexpectedly stumbled right into a bear’s den! You all see how big this bear is. At the time, it had a bird in its mouth, biting it to a bloody pulp, and its fierce black eyes stared straight at us! It scared us into a cold sweat!”

That soldier was quite the storyteller. As he described the encounter with the black bear, it was vivid and dramatic, making the gathered Cook Battalion men all gasp sharply, their hearts trembling and nerves tight.

Gongsun Yin too quietly rubbed the gooseflesh that had risen on his arm.

The soldier went on, “We’d never seen anything like that before. All we had were knives, swords, and ordinary bows and arrows. Even if we fought, we might not pierce the bear’s hide, so we scattered at once! The moment the bear saw us run, its ferocity flared—it charged after us! One brother had nowhere to hide and climbed a tree, but the bear’s strength was terrifying. After hitting it twice, that tree, as thick as a bowl, came crashing down! We all thought that brother was dead for sure—but then Miss Fan untied the rope at her waist, quickly made a loop, and with one swing, it caught right around the bear’s neck!”

The crowd seemed to hold their breath like chickens with their necks wrung, not daring to make a sound.

The soldier even mimicked Fan Changyu’s actions at the time: “Miss Fan braced one foot against a large tree, grabbed the rope with both hands, and pulled back with all her might—Heya! That black bear was yanked onto its back by Miss Fan!”

A collective hiss burst from the Cook Battalion soldiers.

“How strong must her grip be?”

One who hadn’t been there and had only just come over to listen frowned in disbelief. “Is that true? Who could have such strength? Especially a young lady?”

The soldier snapped, “We who went hunting saw it with our own eyes! How could it be false?”

Someone nearby chimed in: “Miss Fan is no ordinary woman! I went with Miss Fan to raid the rebel camp today. You didn’t see it—those hundred-eighty-jin sacks of salt, Miss Fan slung two bags over her shoulder! And still had a free hand to grab a cloak, and even took the rebels’ sheep from the mountain!”

Some who had seen a soldier carrying salt sacks and a roasted whole sheep at the same time now realized that had been Fan Changyu, and the gathered soldiers broke into exclamations—admiring, shocked, voices of praise rising one after another.

Then one Jizhou soldier who had earlier helped transport grain up the mountain said, “Ha! Carrying a hundred catties of salt is nothing! Back when the upper Jizhou dam was being built, they needed dirt and stone dug out. There was a basket of stones weighing over three hundred catties—Miss Fan carried it all the way from the mountain to the dam site! That night the news spread through our camp, and the officer in charge of the digging even rewarded her with a roast chicken!”

The crowd’s collective gasp grew louder. Gongsun Yin held his fan without a word, his expression gradually turning blank.

Fan Changyu, under so many staring eyes, was somewhat unaccustomed to such attention. She wanted to say something, but no matter what came to mind, it didn’t feel right for the moment. So she stood there honestly and quietly, letting everyone look at her.

The Jizhou soldier, feeling that praising Fan Changyu’s deeds also brought honor to Jizhou, continued, “That battle when we flooded Lucheng and drowned the rebels looked like a sure victory, borrowing both the time and the terrain. But it was full of danger! We had tens of thousands stationed upstream at the Wu River building the dam—if we slipped even once, the rebels’ scouts would notice our movements. We could only keep our eyes fixed on them day and night, killing every scout we spotted. But on the eve of battle, the rebels sent a cavalry unit to raid our camp and cover their scouts’ escape! If the news got back to their army, our plan to drown them would’ve been ruined! Three scouts escaped that night—but it was Miss Fan, a woman, who crossed Wu Ridge alone in the rain and killed all three!”

This military feat, no matter where, was no small achievement.

For a moment, every soldier of the Cook Battalion surrounding her looked at Fan Changyu with eyes full of respect.

Fan Changyu, observing these people gazing at her so excitedly, could only nod earnestly and honestly in acknowledgment, though inwardly she was utterly bewildered.

The soldier who had told the bear story was clearly shaken too, stammering through the rest. “That black bear—Miss Fan later drove a sharpened bamboo spear straight through its heart and lungs, then finished it off with the same knife she used earlier to butcher the pig. That’s when it truly died.”

When Fan Changyu left the Cook Battalion with Gongsun Yin, she felt that the refined, elegant Mr. Gongsun had somehow turned into an old man in shock. He clasped his hands behind his back, walked a few steps, then kept turning his head to glance at her again and again, as though his understanding of the world had been shattered.

When he finally looked back for what must have been the umpteenth time, Fan Changyu couldn’t help asking, “Mr. Gongsun, are you all right?”

Gongsun Yin shook his head numbly. “I’m fine.”

Fan Changyu frowned slightly and said earnestly, “You don’t look very fine.”

Gongsun Yin said, “A little, yes.”

He looked at Fan Changyu as though she were some strange creature, utterly perplexed. “So tell me—when you go down the mountain, what exactly is your husband worrying about?”

Before learning of Fan Changyu’s feats, he could understand Xie Zheng’s worries.

After hearing them, he couldn’t!

Fan Changyu moved her lips and said: “He…”

But Gongsun Yin raised a hand to stop her, clearly still reeling from the chain of shocks. “Miss Fan, I think I need to be alone for a while.”

Fan Changyu gave a soft “oh,” then walked quite a distance before turning back to glance at Gongsun Yin, who now sat on a low slope, staring blankly into space, questioning life itself. She scratched her head in mild distress.

Had she… caused trouble for Mr. Gongsun?

Fan Changyu ambled back to her temporary quarters. Because Xie Zheng had lectured her extensively earlier, she understood it rationally, but for some reason, she still felt a bit down. At least for now, she didn’t want to go to his place, so she went to see Changning.

Changning had already woken from her noon nap. Xie Wu had brought over a portion of roasted lamb ribs. She was sitting on a small stool by the tent door, holding a rib in one hand, though she wasn’t eating it very attentively. Her pair of black, grape-like eyes were fixed on Xie Wu as she listened to him recount her elder sister’s accomplishments that day.

Fan Changyu saw Changning from a distance. Since everyone in camp wore soldier’s garb and Xie Wu had his back to her, she didn’t recognize him right away. She simply called out, “Ning-niang.”

At the sound of Fan Changyu’s voice, Changning’s eyes lit up, and she exclaimed excitedly, “Sister’s back!”

Xie Wu also smiled and greeted her. “Miss Fan.”

Fan Changyu nodded. “Ah, it’s Brother Xiao Wu. What brings you here?”

Fan Changyu had only become slightly familiar with Xie Wu and Xie Qi today, but she didn’t know their surnames—only that one was called Xiao Wu, the other Ah Qi. They seemed to be brothers.

Xie Wu said, “The brothers reheated the mutton, tore off a few ribs, and sent them over for Miss Fan. If not for Miss Fan, we wouldn’t be feasting like this today.”

Fan Changyu thanked him, and Xie Wu, using the excuse of other duties, soon took his leave.

After he left, Fan Changyu patted Changning’s head and asked with a smile, “What were you talking about with that big brother just now to make you this happy?”

Changning couldn’t help waving her lamb rib around as she said excitedly, “He said Sister is amazing! You killed a big black bear all by yourself! You even went to fight the bad people and took their grain and roast lamb!”

She tilted her head up, her dark, glimmering eyes full of admiration. “If only we could tell Bao’er that! He gets scared whenever he talks about the bad man who locked him up. If he knew this, he wouldn’t be so afraid anymore. Sister will save him and Aunt Yu!”

Fan Changyu was also worried about Yu Qianqian’s situation. She comforted Changning, saying, “Mm, once we’re down the mountain, we’ll go rescue them.”

Changning, delighted, took another bite of her lamb rib. As she walked into the tent beside Fan Changyu, she said, “After we save Bao’er and Auntie, they can keep running the restaurant, and Sister can build a pigpen and open a butcher’s shop! Ning-niang will learn to slaughter pigs from Sister and earn lots and lots of silver!”

Fan Changyu couldn’t help laughing at the child’s vivid little dream. She curved her lips and said, “All right.”

But then Changning counted on her fingers and realized something was missing. She frowned in confusion. “Then what about Brother-in-law?”

Fan Changyu froze for a brief moment at the child’s innocent words. Before she could answer, Changning’s eyes lit up again with what she thought was the perfect plan. “Brother-in-law can go to the pigpen in the countryside to raise pigs!”

Outside the door, Xie Wu, who had returned unnoticed, suddenly began coughing violently.

Fan Changyu lifted the tent flap and saw Xie Wu standing stiffly at the entrance, looking very uncomfortable. Puzzled, she asked, “Brother Xiao Wu, is there something else?”

Thinking of how, when he reported back, he had mentioned that Fan Changyu had returned but hadn’t gone to see his commander—and of the murderous chill in Xie Zheng’s gaze—Xie Wu quickly said, “Brother Yan is badly injured, and there’s no one around to care for him. Just now, I went with the army doctor to deliver medicine, and I heard he’s been lying there all day. He wanted a drink of water, but there wasn’t even anyone to boil a pot for him…”

He trailed off awkwardly, unable to keep fabricating.

Fan Changyu thought for a moment. Hadn’t Mr. Gongsun gone earlier to visit the wounded? But then again, Mr. Gongsun was an officer—how could a mere soldier like Yan Zheng dare trouble him to pour tea or fetch water?

She had seen Yan Zheng’s injury. For a moment, a rather uncomfortable feeling stirred in her heart. She said, “Thank you, little brother. I’ll go over shortly.”

Xie Wu then left guiltily.

Changning also looked at Fan Changyu with wide, pitiful eyes: “Elder sister, is there really no one to pour water for brother-in-law when he wants to drink? Brother-in-law is so pitiful.”

Fan Changyu thought that after today’s fierce battle, there must be many new wounded soldiers in the medical tents. Bringing Changning along would be inconvenient. She instructed her, “Stay in the tent, don’t run around. Sister will go take a look.”

Changning nodded obediently. “Ning-niang will be good and won’t go anywhere.”

Only then did Fan Changyu set off for Xie Zheng’s tent. Just as Xie Wu had said, it was deathly quiet. Not only were there no soldiers celebrating, but not even new wounded had been brought in.

When Fan Changyu lifted the tent flap and entered, she saw Xie Zheng leaning against the head of the bed, his face pale, his eyes closed as if in light sleep. The daylight streaming in as she lifted the flap happened to fall on his lashes, dark as crow feathers, giving them a faint, downy appearance that inexplicably conveyed a childlike vulnerability.

Perhaps sensing the light, almost the instant the tent flap was lifted, Xie Zheng opened his eyes and looked over. The trace of childlike vulnerability on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by a gaze that was cold, sharp, and gloomy. 

Recognizing it was Fan Changyu, he was momentarily taken aback, then lowered his eyes after a moment and said: “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together and said nothing. After entering the main tent, she went straight to the table and lifted the teapot—sure enough, it was empty.

She turned on her heel, teapot in hand, about to go out, when she suddenly heard a voice from behind: “Wait.”