Chapter 80

Under the bright midday sun, Gongsun Yin looked at Fan Changyu standing several paces away and suddenly felt that perhaps there was something wrong with his hearing.

In disbelief, he asked again, “Who hunted it?”

The people from the cooks’ camp all replied with cheerful smiles, “Miss Fan, of course!”

Gongsun Yin looked at the enormous bear, built like a small mountain, then looked at the slender-limbed Fan Changyu. He found it extremely difficult to imagine how she had managed to kill such a beast.

Previously, when he heard that Fan Changyu had gone down the mountain, raided an enemy camp, and brought back large amounts of grain, he had assumed that she had merely accompanied Xie Five and the others on a risky mission, offering strategies and guidance while they did the actual fighting.

As for slaughtering pigs, he had already heard stories from Carpenter Zhao beforehand, and when he had just witnessed her killing the boar, there had been several cooks holding the animal down. He had only thought that she was somewhat different from ordinary women.

Now, being told that she had hunted a bear, Gongsun Yin suddenly felt his entire understanding of her begin to crumble.

“How exactly did Miss Fan hunt it?” he asked.

One of the soldiers present had gone hunting with Fan Changyu that morning and immediately rushed to answer excitedly.

“We found tracks of a large predator in the forest. At first, we thought it was a wild boar, so we followed the tracks hoping to find its den. Who would’ve thought we’d end up stumbling into a bear’s territory instead?”

“You can all see how huge this bear is. At the time, it still had a bird clenched in its jaws, mangled into a bloody mess. Those black eyes, still full of savage ferocity, stared straight at us. We all broke out in cold sweat!”

The soldier was an excellent storyteller.

His vivid description of encountering the bear had everyone gathered around unconsciously holding their breath, their hearts pounding nervously.

Even Gongsun Yin quietly rubbed the goosebumps that had risen on his arms.

The soldier continued.

“We’d never seen anything like that before. All we had were ordinary swords and bows. If we fought it, we’d probably not even be able to pierce its hide. So we scattered and ran.”

“The moment the bear saw us running, its vicious nature erupted and it charged after us. One of our brothers had nowhere to escape and climbed a tree. That bear was unbelievably strong! It rammed the tree twice, and the trunk—thicker than a man’s wrist—snapped right over!”

“At the time, all of us thought the brother in that tree was dead for sure. But then Miss Fan suddenly untied the rope around her waist, quickly made a noose, and threw it straight over the bear’s neck!”

Everyone listening felt as though their own throats had been caught in that noose. Not a single person dared breathe.

The soldier even acted out Fan Changyu’s movements.

“Miss Fan planted one foot against a tree, grabbed the rope with both hands, and yanked backward with all her strength!”

“Hah!”

“She actually pulled the bear onto its back!”

A collective gasp erupted from the crowd.

“How much strength would that take?”

Some newcomers who had only just arrived to hear the story and hadn’t witnessed the scene themselves immediately expressed doubt.

“Is that really true? How could anyone have that kind of strength? And she’s a woman!”

The soldier immediately protested.

“We all saw it with our own eyes! How could it be fake?”

Another man chimed in.

“Miss Fan isn’t an ordinary woman! I followed her when we raided the rebels’ camp today. You didn’t see it, but those salt sacks weighed over a hundred jin each. She slung two of them over her shoulder at once! She still had enough free hands to grab cloaks and even steal the rebels’ sheep while she was at it!”

Some of the soldiers had seen a figure carrying salt sacks and running with a whole roasted sheep but hadn’t realized it was Fan Changyu.

For a time, the gathered soldiers were filled with amazement and disbelief, and praise poured forth without end.

One of the Ji Province soldiers who had previously worked with Fan Changyu transporting grain up the mountain declared proudly,

“Carrying a hundred jin of salt is nothing! Back when they were building the dam upstream in Ji Province, they had to excavate dirt and stone. A single basket of rocks weighed nearly three hundred jin. Miss Fan carried one all the way down the mountain to the dam herself!”

“The whole camp was talking about it that very night. The officer in charge of excavation even rewarded her with a roast chicken!”

The gasps grew even louder.

Gongsun Yin remained silent, gripping his folding fan, but his expression had already become increasingly blank.

Fan Changyu felt somewhat uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze.

She wanted to say something, but no matter what she said, it didn’t seem appropriate.

So she simply stood there honestly and let everyone look at her.

The Ji Province soldier seemed to think that publicizing Fan Changyu’s accomplishments was also a way of bringing honor to Ji Province, so he continued enthusiastically.

“And the battle where we flooded the rebels at Lu City! It looked like we won because of favorable timing and terrain, but it was dangerous as hell behind the scenes!”

“Tens of thousands of us were stationed upstream on the Wu River building the dam. If we weren’t careful, the enemy scouts would discover what we were doing. Every day we had to watch for rebel scouts and kill them the moment we found them.”

“But right before the battle, the rebels sent a cavalry force to attack our camp and help several scouts escape!”

“If those scouts had made it back to the rebel army, the entire flooding plan would’ve been ruined!”

“At the time, three scouts got away. It was Miss Fan—a woman all alone—who crossed the Wu Mountains in the middle of a stormy night and intercepted all three of them!”

No matter where one was, that achievement alone would count as a significant military contribution.

Immediately, the soldiers gathered around the cooks’ camp looked at Fan Changyu with nothing but admiration.

Facing all those excited gazes, Fan Changyu could only nod politely and honestly.

In truth, she was completely bewildered.

The soldier who had originally been telling the bear-hunting story seemed equally stunned by Fan Changyu’s previous accomplishments. Stumbling over his words, he finally finished the latter half of the tale.

“As for the bear… afterward, Miss Fan sharpened a bamboo spear and drove it straight through its heart and lungs. Then she used the same knife she used to slaughter the pig just now to finish it off. That’s how it died.”

When Fan Changyu left the cooks’ camp with Gongsun Yin, she felt as though the elegant and refined Mr. Gongsun had somehow transformed into a bewildered old man.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he would walk a few steps, then suddenly turn around and stare at her again, as though his understanding of reality had suffered a severe blow.

After what felt like the fifth or sixth time, Fan Changyu finally couldn’t help asking,

“Mr. Gongsun, are you all right?”

Gongsun Yin shook his head numbly.

“I’m fine.”

Frowning, Fan Changyu said earnestly,

“You don’t look very fine.”

“I suppose I’m not.”

He looked at her as though she were some kind of strange creature and asked in complete confusion,

“So when you went down the mountain… what exactly was your husband so worried about?”

Before learning all these things about Fan Changyu, he had completely understood Xie Zheng’s concern.

After hearing them?

He no longer understood.

Fan Changyu parted her lips.

“He…”

Gongsun Yin immediately raised a hand to stop her.

It was obvious he still hadn’t recovered from the series of shocks.

“Miss Fan, I think I’d like some time alone first.”

Fan Changyu simply responded with an “Oh.”

After walking quite a distance away, she turned back and saw Gongsun Yin sitting on a low slope, staring into space and questioning his entire life.

She scratched her head in distress.

Had she somehow caused Mr. Gongsun a great deal of trouble?

Wandering back to her temporary lodging, Fan Changyu found herself still feeling somewhat gloomy.

Although she understood the reasoning behind everything Xie Zheng had said earlier, for some reason she still felt a little stifled inside.

At the very least, she didn’t want to see him right now.

So she went to check on Changning instead.

Changning had already woken from her nap.

Xie Five had delivered some roasted lamb ribs that had been portioned out. Sitting on a small stool at the tent entrance, Changning held a rib in one hand and nibbled on it absentmindedly.

Her attention was entirely focused on Xie Five, who was enthusiastically recounting Fan Changyu’s exploits from the day.

Fan Changyu spotted Changning from a distance.

Since everyone in the camp wore military uniforms and Xie Five had his back turned toward her, she didn’t recognize him immediately.

“Ningniang,” she called out.

The moment Changning heard her voice, her eyes lit up.

“Big Sister’s back!”

Xie Five also greeted her with a smile.

“Miss Fan.”

Fan Changyu nodded.

“So it’s Brother Xiao Wu. What brings you here?”

She had become somewhat familiar with Xie Five and Xie Seven today, but she still didn’t know their surnames. She only knew one was called Xiao Wu and the other A’Qi, and assumed they were brothers.

Xie Five replied,

“The brothers reheated the sheep and set aside some lamb ribs for you. If not for Miss Fan, none of us would’ve enjoyed such a feast today.”

Fan Changyu thanked him.

Using the excuse that he had other matters to attend to, Xie Five quickly departed.

After he left, Fan Changyu gently patted Changning’s head and asked with a smile,

“What were you talking about with that big brother? You seem so happy.”

Changning nearly danced with excitement despite still holding the lamb rib.

“He said Big Sister is amazing!”

“You killed a huge black bear all by yourself!”

“You even went to the bad guys’ camp and stole their grain and roasted sheep!”

She tilted her head upward. Her bright black eyes were filled with admiration.

“I wish we could tell Bao’er all of this. Every time he talks about the bad man who locked him up, his teeth chatter from fear. If he heard these stories, he probably wouldn’t be so scared anymore. Big Sister will definitely save him and Aunt Yu!”

Fan Changyu was also worried about Yu Qianqian’s situation.

She comforted Changning.

“That’s right. Once we go down the mountain, we’ll rescue them.”

Changning happily took another bite of lamb while following Fan Changyu into the tent.

“After we rescue Bao’er and Auntie, they can reopen their restaurant. Big Sister can build pig pens and open a pork shop. Ningniang will learn how to slaughter pigs from Big Sister too, and we’ll earn lots and lots of silver!”

The child’s innocent dreams made Fan Changyu both laugh and cry.

“All right.”

Changning counted on her fingers for a moment, then suddenly frowned.

“Wait, that’s not right.”

“What will Brother-in-Law do?”

The innocent question caused Fan Changyu to freeze momentarily.

Meanwhile, Changning had already come up with what she considered the perfect arrangement.

Excitedly, she declared,

“Brother-in-Law can raise pigs in the countryside pig farm!”

Outside the tent, Xie Five—who had secretly returned—suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit.

Lifting the tent flap, Fan Changyu looked outside.

Xie Five stood stiffly by the entrance as though countless needles were poking his back.

Confused, she asked,

“Brother Xiao Wu, do you need something else?”

Remembering the murderous look Xie Zheng had given him when he reported that Fan Changyu had returned but hadn’t gone to visit him, Xie Five hurriedly said,

“Brother Yan’s injuries are quite serious, and there’s no one around to look after him. Earlier, I helped the physician deliver medicine and found out he’d been lying there all day. Even if he wanted a drink of water, there wasn’t anyone to boil a kettle for him…”

Halfway through the fabrication, he realized he couldn’t continue and awkwardly trailed off.

Fan Changyu thought to herself that Mr. Gongsun had only recently visited the wounded, but then she remembered that Gongsun Yin was an official while Yan Zheng was only an ordinary soldier. How could he possibly ask Mr. Gongsun to serve him tea and water?

She had seen Yan Zheng’s injuries herself.

For a moment, she felt rather uncomfortable.

“Thank you for telling me, Brother Xiao Wu. I’ll head over shortly.”

Only then did Xie Five leave guiltily.

Changning looked up at Fan Changyu with wide eyes.

“Big Sister, does Brother-in-Law not even have anyone to pour him water? That’s so pitiful.”

Thinking that many new wounded soldiers would likely be brought into the infirmary after today’s battle, Fan Changyu felt it wouldn’t be convenient to bring Changning along.

So she instructed her,

“Stay inside the tent and don’t run around. I’ll go take a look.”

Changning nodded obediently.

“Ningniang is very good. Ningniang won’t go anywhere.”

Only then did Fan Changyu set off for Xie Zheng’s tent.

Just as Xie Five had described, the area was incredibly deserted.

There were no celebrations, no visitors, and not even any newly wounded soldiers being housed nearby.

When Fan Changyu lifted the tent flap and entered, she saw Xie Zheng reclining against the head of the bed.

His complexion was pale.

With his eyes closed, he appeared to be resting lightly.

The sunlight that spilled through the opened tent flap happened to fall upon his raven-black eyelashes. Soft and delicate, they gave him an unexpected vulnerability, almost childlike in appearance.

Perhaps sensing the light, Xie Zheng opened his eyes almost the instant the tent flap was lifted.

That trace of childlike fragility vanished immediately.

His gaze became cold, sharp, and somewhat gloomy.

Only after recognizing Fan Changyu did he freeze slightly.

A moment later, he lowered his eyes and said,

“I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together without replying.

After entering the tent, she walked straight to the table and picked up the teapot.

As expected, it was empty.

Turning on her heel, she carried the teapot toward the exit.

Then she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

“Wait.”