After Fan Changyu took Changning to the tent assigned to them by Gongsun Yin, she first fetched water to help Changning wash up. While tying Changning’s hair into small buns, she asked, “Changning, do you remember how you were captured?”
Changning counted on her fingers as she carefully recalled, “Elder Sister hid us in the cellar. Later, Aunt Zhao took me to escape. We encountered soldiers on the road and walked a long way to an inn. Aunt Zhao said it was Jizhou City and that we were safe.”
Fan Changyu realized the inn Changning mentioned was likely the relay station where the Jizhou officials had temporarily housed them. She quickly asked, “What happened next?”
Remembering how she was taken from the relay station still frightened Changning, and her eyes reddened, “Later, the inn suddenly caught fire. Some bad men cut Aunt Zhao with a sword, tied me up, gagged me, and took me away in a box…”
At this point, she couldn’t hold back her tears, “Elder Sister, Aunt Zhao was bleeding so much. Is Aunt Zhao dead too?”
Fan Changyu gently patted her back to comfort her, “Aunt Zhao is fine. She’s still in Jizhou. You’ll be able to see her when you go back.”
Only then did Changning stop crying.
Fan Changyu asked her, “Were you taken out of the city in a box on a carriage by those villains?”
Changning nodded and continued, “When I was let out, there were mountains everywhere. They threw away the box and carriage and took me on horseback. We arrived at a very large mansion, and they locked me in a dark room. Several days later, a very fierce old woman took me out and told me to play with Bao’er.”
Fan Changyu was puzzled, “Wasn’t Bao’er locked up like you?”
Changning thought for a moment and said, “He was locked up, but those fierce old women and maids were all trying to entertain Bao’er. They called him Young Master, but Bao’er ignored them. Bao’er said a bad person had locked up his mother, and he would only behave so he could see his mother again.”
The more Fan Changyu listened, the more confused she became. The way Changning described being “locked up” sounded more like house arrest. Moreover, the servants calling Bao’er “Young Master” made her wonder if Yu Qianqian’s husband was from that household. Even if Fan Changyu wasn’t particularly clever, she knew this matter was connected to the rebels and was likely not simple.
Changning looked up and asked Fan Changyu, “Elder Sister when Brother-in-law recovers, can we go rescue Bao’er and Aunt Yu together?”
Fan Changyu replied, “Once we go down the mountain, I’ll go to Chongzhou to gather information.”
This made Changning happy again.
Fan Changyu noticed something tied around her neck with a red string and asked, “What’s this?”
Changning pulled it out. It was an exquisite little pig jade pendant. She said, “Bao’er gave it to me before we left. The one he gave me last time is at home. He said he always wears the grasshopper I wove for him, so he gave me this little pig pendant to wear all the time too.”
The previous jade pendant was quite large and shaped like a jade lock. It looked fine when Bao’er wore it outside his clothes, but it seemed out of place when Changning did the same. To avoid attracting unwanted attention and prevent Changning from accidentally damaging it while playing with other children in the alley, Fan Changyu had her keep the jade lock at home.
She picked up the little pig jade pendant and examined it closely. Even without being an expert on jade, she could tell that the quality of this pendant was noticeably superior to the previous jade lock, suggesting it was quite valuable. The bottom of the pendant was engraved with the character “宝” (Bao), indicating it was custom-made.
Fan Changyu guessed this might have been a gift Yu Qianqian had prepared for Bao’er in the past. As for why it was carved in the shape of a little pig, considering Bao’er seemed to be around the same age as Changning, perhaps Bao’er was also born in the Year of the Pig?
She felt that this jade pendant might be even more significant to Bao’er than the previous one.
The two children, finding a familiar face in a foreign land, had likely become each other’s only playmates.
Fan Changyu helped Changning tuck the jade pendant into her collar and said, “Keep it safe and don’t lose it. When we rescue Bao’er and his mother, you can return this pendant to him. This gift is too precious, and Bao’er is still young. We can’t accept it, understand?”
Changning nodded, “Like last time, if Aunt Yu agrees to give it, then I can keep it, right?”
Fan Changyu smiled and patted her head, “That’s right.”
Changning hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days, and this evening, staying by Fan Changyu’s side, she began yawning after talking for a short while.
After putting Changning to sleep, Fan Changyu remembered that when she saw Yan Zheng earlier that day, he still had some blood stains that hadn’t been cleaned. She prepared a basin of water and went to his tent.
He had always been a clean person, and if he hadn’t been so badly injured, he certainly wouldn’t have tolerated the smell of herbal medicine residue and blood stains on his body.
When Fan Changyu arrived, the light was still on in Xie Zheng’s tent. Unsure if new wounded soldiers had been brought in after she left, she called out from the entrance, “Yan Zheng, are you asleep?”
“Not yet,” came a low voice from inside.
Fan Changyu entered the water basin. As she lifted the tent flap, she discovered Xie Zheng bare-chested, rewrapping bandages around his waist. Two empty bottles of wound medicine sat on the table beside him.
Beads of cold sweat hung on his forehead, likely from enduring the pain, which seemed to have put him in a foul mood. When he looked towards the entrance, his expression was cold, but it softened slightly when he recognized Fan Changyu. “Why did you come?” he asked.
Fan Changyu said, “I came to bring you some water to clean up.”
She noticed that the bandages he had removed were stained with a large patch of fresh blood. Remembering their earlier embrace, she looked guilty and asked, “Did it aggravate your wound earlier?”
Xie Zheng had finished tying the bandage and was putting on his robe. “No,” he replied.
Although he denied it, Fan Changyu still felt guilty. Remembering that he had been injured while rescuing Changning, she felt even more remorseful. Seeing that he was about to fasten his robe, she said, “Don’t put it on yet. Let me help you clean up.”
Xie Zheng’s brow furrowed instinctively. “You’ll help me?”
Fan Changyu felt that this wasn’t the first time she had done such a thing. When she first found him, she had even held him down to apply medicine. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, so she nodded matter-of-factly, “Your wound can’t get wet, and you can’t reach your back yourself. If you feel uncomfortable, I can go outside and find a young soldier to help you.”
Xie Zheng had already loosened his sash again. “You do it,” he said.
The ink-colored robe hung open, casting a deep shadow in the candlelight. His muscular and well-proportioned physique had the warm luster of jade. The bandages wrapped diagonally from his shoulder to his ribs, contrasting with his cold expression, made him appear both vulnerable and unyielding.
Fan Changyu wrung out a cloth and began by gently wiping his face.
Xie Zheng sat at the edge of the bed, seemingly surprised that she would start with his face. He paused for a moment.
Fan Changyu’s movements were very gentle, and she patiently helped him clean the blood and grime from his face. She smiled and said, “When I first found you, you were much dirtier than this. Your face was so covered in blood that I couldn’t make out what you looked like.”
Xie Zheng remained silent, quietly watching Fan Changyu’s every move.
Her features were exceptionally fine, and in the candlelight, her whole person seemed to be covered in a soft glow. Just looking at her made all the irritation in his heart subside.
After cleaning his face, Fan Changyu wrung out the cloth again and began wiping his upper body. The cloth paused just before reaching the bandaged area. She raised her hand and gently touched the scar that ran across his chest through the bandage, saying softly, “It must hurt a lot, doesn’t it?”
Xie Zheng still only answered, “It doesn’t hurt.”
Fan Changyu fell silent. When she looked up a moment later, her eyes were tinged with a faint redness.
Xie Zheng raised his hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He looked at her for a while, then suddenly lowered his head and planted a kiss on her eyelid.
It was so light that Fan Changyu felt as if a feather had brushed against her.
She blinked, somewhat unaccustomed to the gesture, and stared at Xie Zheng in a daze. She was not used to this sudden intimacy, but she didn’t reject it either.
When she was lost in thought, her gaze was clear and innocent, with a hint of gullibility that made her seem easy to bully.
Xie Zheng’s voice was deep in the quiet of the military tent: “Why are you staring at me?”
After a moment of silence, Fan Changyu said something unexpected: “You kissed me?”
The tent flap wasn’t fully closed, and the mountain wind gusted in from outside. The candlelight flickered, causing their shadows to sway chaotically.
Xie Zheng looked at her and gave a soft “Mm,” but his eyes were so deep it was unsettling.
Another long silence followed.
Suddenly, Fan Changyu straightened up and quickly pecked his forehead, saying, “Now we’re even.”
Then she picked up the water basin and left the tent.
Xie Zheng stared at her retreating figure, unable to come to his senses for a long time.
He had kissed her more passionately before, but feeling the lingering warmth on his forehead, he couldn’t suppress the joy welling up in his heart. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
Fan Changyu couldn’t sleep well all night after returning. In all the time she had known Yan Zheng, she had always seen him as family and a friend. That’s why she was so angry when he suddenly took liberties with her last time.
It wasn’t just because of his impropriety, but also because she had always trusted him, and he had betrayed that trust.
But after everything that had happened, that anger had long since dissipated. She only hoped that everyone she cared about would be safe and well.
When she learned he was in a life-or-death situation on the mountain, her instinct was to find him.
As for what to do after finding him, she thought about living as they had before, with one more mouth to feed at home, which she could certainly afford.
But tonight’s events suddenly confused her. He had kissed her again, but she wasn’t angry. She had only stubbornly returned the gesture with a quick peck on his forehead!
Fan Changyu tossed and turned restlessly in bed, realizing she had pulled the blanket off Changning. She quickly turned back and tucked Changning in again.
It wasn’t until the fourth watch of the night that she finally fell into a light sleep.
When dawn broke, Fan Changyu got up with dark circles under her eyes. After helping Changning wash up, she went to the mess tent to help collect food for the wounded soldiers. She heard complaints from the kitchen staff that they hadn’t caught much game in the past two days and couldn’t provide special meals for the wounded.
Remembering that the military doctor had said Xie Zheng needed to eat well to recover, Fan Changyu wondered how he could regain his strength without meat.
She decided to go deep into the forest with the soldiers responsible for hunting after breakfast, hoping to catch something good.
Because of what happened last night, she was afraid things would be more awkward if she saw him, so she asked other soldiers to deliver medicine and breakfast to Xie Zheng.
Early in the morning, Gongsun Yin went to report official matters to Xie Zheng and found him in an exceptionally foul mood. After some indirect inquiries, he learned that Fan Changyu hadn’t visited Xie Zheng all morning. Finding this very strange, he went to look for Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu had already prepared to go into the mountains and was about to send Changning to stay with Xie Zheng. When Gongsun Yin arrived, she asked him to take Changning there instead.
Gongsun Yin was surprised to learn that Fan Changyu was going hunting in the mountains. Worried about her safety as a young woman, he secretly assigned two of his guards to follow her.
While taking Changning to see Xie Zheng, he noticed the two lopsided buns on top of her head, which were so ugly they were eye-catching.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Little girl, didn’t your sister do your hair this morning?”
Changning touched her buns and said, “She did! She even redid the buns!”
Gongsun Yin: “…”
How did she manage to make it look worse after doing her hair?
He endured it for the entire journey but finally couldn’t resist undoing Changning’s buns and retying them.
Faced with the confusion of other personal guards, the one who had followed Xie Zheng the longest explained in a low voice, “Sometimes Sir Gongsun can’t stand things that aren’t neat. Like the child’s hair being tied unevenly, it could bother Sir Gongsun for an entire day.”