Her Li Juan the Fourth!

Shen Zhuxi cried the whole way back to the inn they had arranged. In the face of her tears, Li Que and Xiao Hu automatically made peace with each other and never quarreled again.

The dead are gone; the living must go on.

That same evening, Shen Zhuxi rallied her spirits and carried a bowl of freshly decocted medicine to Xiao Hu’s room.

Xiao Hu was dozing in bed but snapped awake the instant she heard footsteps. Seeing it was Shen Zhuxi, she withdrew the hand she had been reaching toward the underside of her pillow and forced herself to sit up.

“……Why are you here?” Her voice was hoarse, drained of energy.

Shen Zhuxi noticed the flush of color on her face. She sat down at the edge of the bed and pressed her free left hand to Xiao Hu’s forehead.

“Good, no fever. Take your medicine first.” Shen Zhuxi held out the bowl.

Xiao Hu stared at the dark, murky broth and hesitated before accepting it.

“……You made this?”

“Qu’er brewed it.” Shen Zhuxi said. “He has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. If he offended you, be magnanimous about it — a prime minister’s belly can float a boat, so don’t stoop to his level.”

The moment Xiao Hu heard it was Li Que who had brewed the medicine, she shoved the bowl straight back without a second thought.

“I’m afraid he’ll poison me.”

A cold laugh sounded from the doorway.

“Aren’t you a herbalist? Can’t you smell whether a medicine is poisoned or not?”

Li Que stood outside the door. The contemptuous look on his face gave way to something gentler as he turned to Shen Zhuxi. “Sister-in-law, it’s time for dinner. Second Brother has been waiting downstairs and growing impatient.”

“Go ahead and start without me — I’ll be right down.” Shen Zhuxi said quickly.

“All right, come soon.” Li Que’s gaze fell on Xiao Hu and cooled again. “Don’t waste time.”

He was just turning to leave when Xiao Hu suddenly spoke. “Stop right there!”

Li Que halted. Xiao Hu looked at Shen Zhuxi and said, “You drink a mouthful first.”

“Don’t push your luck —” Li Que’s face darkened.

Shen Zhuxi glanced from one to the other, baffled as to how they had become like fire and water within a single day.

“I’ll drink!” Before either of them could escalate the argument further, she tilted the bowl back and swallowed a generous mouthful in one go.

Not only did Li Que freeze — even Xiao Hu, who had made the demand, stared at her, jaw dropping.

“You actually drank it……” She looked utterly stunned.

“One mouthful of medicine won’t hurt me. Are you satisfied now?” Shen Zhuxi said with a smile.

She didn’t think Xiao Hu’s request was unreasonable at all. It was a little discourteous, perhaps, but a vulnerable young woman traveling alone had every reason to be cautious — and if that caution cost her a bit of courtesy, what did it matter?

She pushed the bowl back and coaxed patiently, “Drink it up now. The physician said three times a day — how will you recover quickly if you don’t take your medicine?”

“Sister-in-law, let her be if she won’t drink. Why do you bother with her?” Li Que said coldly.

“Do you think everyone is as iron-hearted as you?” Xiao Hu fired back immediately.

She took the bowl from Shen Zhuxi’s hands and drained it in one breath.

When she returned the empty bowl, she said nothing more — but the guarded look she had been giving Shen Zhuxi was gone.

“……Sister-in-law, come quickly.” Li Que spoke, then turned and left the doorway.

Shen Zhuxi rose and closed the door, then came back inside.

“Why are you still here?” Xiao Hu asked.

“I haven’t dressed your wounds yet — where do you want me to go?” Shen Zhuxi said, puzzled.

“I can do it myself.”

“You can barely sit up. How are you going to apply medicine to your own back? The physician said the wound on your back is prone to infection, and it must be dressed thoroughly with medicine.” Shen Zhuxi held up the ointment the physician had prescribed and, with unusual firmness, said, “Do you undress yourself, or shall I help you?”

“……It’s fine, go have your meal.”

Xiao Hu made to lie back down. Shen Zhuxi caught her before she could and, without giving her a chance to protest, began to remove her upper garment.

“You — what are you doing!” Xiao Hu went pale with shock, and color flooded her face at a remarkable speed.

“Of course I’m going to dress your——”

The words died in Shen Zhuxi’s throat. She stared at the layers upon layers of old scars blanketing the girl’s thin shoulders, and for a long moment she could not speak.

Wounds of every size were scattered across Xiao Hu’s slender torso. The girl’s feminine figure was barely developed — her chest almost entirely flat — which explained why, when wearing Shen Zhuxi’s clothes, she had looked like a boy dressed in women’s garments. Some of the scars were from arrow punctures, others from sword and blade wounds; a few Shen Zhuxi couldn’t identify the origin of at all. They had all been there long enough to fade into pale, bleached marks.

“You……”

In the moment Shen Zhuxi drifted into a daze, Xiao Hu’s expression shifted into mortified fury. She yanked her loosened upper garment back up and made to turn away and lie down with her back to Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi grabbed her at once. “I don’t find them revolting!” she said urgently.

“You don’t have to comfort me!” Xiao Hu said. “Women are supposed to be soft and fair and smooth. What kind of woman does that make me?”

“Who says women are all supposed to be soft and fair? I — I……” Shen Zhuxi racked her mind for a scar of her own and came up empty. In desperation she could only say, “I’ve seen plenty of women who aren’t soft and fair!”

“Where?” Xiao Hu looked at her with suspicion.

“In books!” Shen Zhuxi said. “Hua Mulan fought to protect her homeland — a woman can match any man in valor. What’s wrong with having a few scars?”

Xiao Hu looked away and said quietly, “……I didn’t fight to protect my homeland.”

“But you are braver than many women.” Shen Zhuxi said. “These are the proof that you triumphed over hardship.”

Xiao Hu studied her in silence for a long moment, then said, “……You’re rather good at comforting people.”

“I’m not comforting you — I’m telling the truth——” Shen Zhuxi grew flustered.

“You really don’t find them revolting?” Xiao Hu asked.

“It’s not as though you chose to keep them. What’s revolting about that?” Shen Zhuxi said. “Pull your garment down and let me dress your wounds.”

Xiao Hu assessed her expression for a moment. Once she was certain Shen Zhuxi was not merely saying what was proper, she turned away and drew her upper garment down.

The blood-stained back was laid bare before Shen Zhuxi. She felt a phantom ache run down her own spine in sympathy.

She steadied herself, carefully unwound the blood-soaked bandages layer by layer, then, with clean hands, gently dabbed the ointment on in small, precise dots.

“Does it hurt?” she asked softly.

“……It doesn’t.” Xiao Hu’s voice was muffled. “Why doesn’t it hurt at all when you apply the medicine?”

“Take a little more ointment than you think you need, and apply it by dotting rather than rubbing — that way the ointment makes contact with the wound on its own, without the pressure of your fingers landing on it directly.” Shen Zhuxi said. “My husband taught me this.”

“Why isn’t your husband traveling with you?” she asked.

“I’m going home to visit family. My husband is too tied up with official duties to get away.”

Xiao Hu muttered something under her breath. Shen Zhuxi hadn’t caught it. “What did you say?”

“I said you’re quite foolish.” Xiao Hu said. “Are you going to keep applying the medicine, or do you want me to catch a chill and fall ill?”

You’re already running a fever, Shen Zhuxi thought to herself.

Xiao Hu had a point. To avoid worsening her condition, Shen Zhuxi said no more and quickened her hands.

Having practiced on Li Wu several times now, Shen Zhuxi had grown quite practiced at dressing wounds. Half an incense stick’s time later, she wrapped Xiao Hu’s upper body in clean bandages and helped her ease carefully back down.

The cuts on Xiao Hu’s face were from tree branches. The physician had said they wouldn’t scar as long as medicine was applied regularly — Shen Zhuxi hadn’t forgotten. After settling her down, she carefully applied ointment to the wounds on her face as well.

Xiao Hu stared at her, unblinking.

“What is it?” Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but laugh at the steady gaze.

“……Nothing.”

“I’ll need to change the dressings again tomorrow morning. Get some sleep for now — I’ll bring you a bowl of congee later.” Shen Zhuxi said.

Xiao Hu gave a small nod. The moment Shen Zhuxi moved away, the exhaustion in those tired eyes slowly won out, and they fell shut.

Shen Zhuxi crept softly to the door and pulled it closed.

She washed her hands clean, then went downstairs to the main hall where the meal was being served.

Li Kun had been waiting long enough that he had begun restlessly tapping his bowl. The instant he saw Shen Zhuxi appear, he broke into complaints at once. “Finally! I want my piggy! I want piggy!”

Shen Zhuxi coaxed him quickly. “Piggy it is — eat as much piggy as you like tonight.”

Li Kun’s childlike heart was easily won over. His face lit up immediately and he twisted around to shout at the attendant standing nearby, “Serve the food, serve the food! Pig trotters, pig offal, pork belly, pork brain — bring it all, bring it all!”

Once Shen Zhuxi had taken her seat, Li Que pulled a pair of wooden chopsticks from the holder on the table and passed them to her.

“Sister-in-law, do you think she’s a good person?” Li Que asked.

“I don’t know.” Shen Zhuxi shook her head. “But I don’t think she’s bad.”

“Not being bad doesn’t make someone good.” Li Que said.

“Are there any truly good people in this world?”

Li Que fell silent.

“I understand your concern,” Shen Zhuxi said, “but she’s gravely injured and entirely alone — I couldn’t leave her out in the wilderness. Now that we’re in the city, we can give the inn attendant some silver and ask him to look after Xiao Hu. Then we continue on our way.”

“I’m glad you see it that way. I was worried you might insist on bringing her along.”

Shen Zhuxi gave a small smile. “Xiao Hu isn’t actually a little monkey. Helping her this much is enough — she’s perfectly capable of looking after herself.”

“Sister-in-law ought to keep a sharper eye where she is concerned. Her identity is far from that of an ordinary herbalist.” Li Que said. “She has thick calluses on her hands, a solid, powerful stance — she is clearly a trained fighter. If she hadn’t been deliberately holding back in the fight, she wouldn’t have let her guard slip and taken that wound to her back.”

“If she meant us harm, what would she be after?” Shen Zhuxi said, puzzled. “When the bandits from Dinghai Stronghold attacked us, she fought on our side too. If she wanted to hurt us, she’s had plenty of opportunities.”

“People don’t come knocking for no reason.” Li Que said coldly. “She concealed her identity and deliberately drew close to us — she must have some hidden purpose. Sister-in-law must not let her guard down.”

“All right, I’ll be more careful.” Shen Zhuxi gave a nod.

“We leave once the night deepens.” Li Que said.

“That soon?” Shen Zhuxi said, startled.

“Xiao Hu’s origins are unknown — the sooner we put distance between us, the safer. Besides, Elder Brother may have already set out. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can reunite with him.”

Thinking of Li Wu, Shen Zhuxi nodded. “Then I’ll go pack as soon as I’ve eaten.”

Li Que and Li Kun were both men with little luggage of their own. Shen Zhuxi had considerably more odds and ends to gather. She filled her stomach quickly, then brought a bowl of rice congee back upstairs.

Xiao Hu’s spirits still hadn’t fully recovered. She could barely sit up, and she didn’t look to have much appetite — but she forced herself through the entire bowl of congee all the same.

“When are you leaving?” Xiao Hu asked.

“Qu’er hasn’t decided yet — probably within the next few days.” Shen Zhuxi said, avoiding the direct truth.

Her gaze fell on the rough, cheap wooden hairpin Xiao Hu wore. She considered for a moment, then unpinned the lotus-petal jade hairpin from her own hair and fixed it into Xiao Hu’s instead.

“You’re lovely. A little adornment, and you’ll be even lovelier.” Shen Zhuxi said with a smile.

Xiao Hu turned her face away. The tips of her earlobes had gone faintly red.

Shen Zhuxi took the empty bowl and walked out of the room. She found the inn attendant and pressed some silver into his hands, instructing him to see to Xiao Hu’s three meals a day and to hire a woman who could come each day to help change the dressings. The silver was generous enough that the attendant agreed to every one of her requests with great enthusiasm.

With all of that settled, Shen Zhuxi returned to her own room to pack her belongings, waiting for Li Que to come wake her in the middle of the night for their departure.

The moon climbed higher and higher, until it hung fixed at its peak.

The bright crescent shed its light across the stone-paved courtyard behind the inn.

A slight figure quietly pushed open the rear door and slipped out, treading with careful, soundless steps.

Xiao Hu crouched behind the mud wall at the back of the inn. She drew a signal flare from inside her garments and set it on the ground, then produced a fire stick and blew a spark to life.

The fuse was right there before her. Yet Xiao Hu held the fire stick and hesitated.

The lotus-petal jade hairpin upon her head felt, in that moment, as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Time seemed to stop. The crouching figure was utterly still, while the expression crossing her face shifted through countless changes.

After a long moment, she drew back the fire stick she had been reaching toward the signal flare — and in that very instant, a crossbow bolt came slicing through the air toward her with a piercing shriek.

Xiao Hu’s expression changed. Pure reflex sent her rolling sideways.

Both the signal flare and the fire stick toppled to the ground.

She lifted her head and saw Li Que’s cold face in the moonlight.