Bao Xia came in carrying the medicine chest. Shao Yao took it and opened it while saying, “That method of yours — cleaning wounds with alcohol — it’s quite good. I used it on my companions afterwards, and cases of fever and festering decreased considerably. It does sting a bit, though.”
Even as she said it stung a bit, her hands showed no sign of gentleness. Compared to Hua Zhi’s approach of diluting alcohol with water before wiping, Shao Yao simply poured alcohol directly onto a clean cloth and pressed it straight to the wounds.
The child opened his mouth in a soundless cry of pain, his body instinctively tensing and pulling away — yet he gripped the edge of the bed and forced himself back under Shao Yao’s hands. He had already understood: this woman was a physician.
Shao Yao cast him an approving glance and worked with even greater efficiency.
By the time one full round of alcohol had been applied, the child’s entire body had turned red, and in places had even swollen. Shao Yao rummaged through the medicine chest, took out medicinal powder and dusted it over every wound, then wrapped him entirely in soft cloth, and instructed, “Whether it hurts or itches, bear it.”
A’Jian nodded, his eyes rimmed red, looking so pitiful it was heartbreaking — yet he had not shed a single tear.
Fu Dong came in carrying a bowl of porridge. Hua Zhi drew Shao Yao aside into the adjacent study and asked the one who had been quietly unsettled, “Did you find something?”
Shao Yao shook her head. She draped herself over the desk and tilted her head to look at Hua Zhi. “It has been two months since Yanxi left.”
Hua Zhi gazed at the wisps of steam drifting above her teacup. In three more days it would be two full months — far beyond the one month he had spoken of when he left. It was not that she had not worried. Only that she could not ask.
“Hua Zhi — can you get me the most complete maps available?”
“Yes.” The Shizi held maps equal to those of the imperial palace — the most thorough and comprehensive in all of Daqing. “I’ll go fetch them now.”
As Shao Yao moved to rise, Hua Zhi pulled her back. “There’s no rush. I promised Lu Xiansheng that I wouldn’t let you leave the estate. Today has already been a breach of that agreement — we can’t compound the mistake.”
Shao Yao suddenly felt a warmth bloom in her chest. She had a brother who cared for her, and she had Hua Zhi — a friend who kept her in mind no matter the moment. That was already more than enough. Those things of the past, those surely unhappy times — none of them mattered in the slightest.
She swayed Hua Zhi’s hand back and forth, and at last smiled with genuine ease. “I’ll have someone bring them here.”
Wang Rong ran the errand for her. When he learned it was to retrieve maps from the Shizi’s study, he did not hesitate for an instant. Before leaving, the Shizi had left word: whatever the eldest young lady of the Hua Family asked for, she was to be given.
The maps were large. Spread out one by one, they filled an entire room. Hua Zhi cleared the table and laid the southern map across it.
Shao Yao studied it as well, pointing to a high mountain range. “My master and I went here once. There’s much of value inside, but ordinary people who enter will die.”
“Miasma?”
“Yes.” Shao Yao was not in the least surprised that Hua Zhi knew about miasma. Hua Zhi simply knew everything.
“Do you have a remedy for it?”
“Naturally — that sort of thing is no trouble for me. Don’t worry, Yanxi would certainly have brought some.”
Hua Zhi studied the maps, her fingertips tracing across one place after another. She was no military commander; she had never marshaled troops or directed battle formations. Her learning and her abilities had never touched that domain. In this lifetime she had not been born into a family of military generals — she did not have the convenience of servants who could each subdue three to five ordinary fighters at a moment’s notice, nor could she simply organize and field a team of sufficient martial strength. She could not even secure a martial arts instructor without relying on outside help.
What she did possess was a foresight many years ahead of her time, and the shrewdness she had honed through years of navigating the world of commerce.
Yet even with all of that, and even with a complete map before her, she could not determine what Yan Country intended.
To Yan Country, Daqing was a colossus. Even with boundless ambition, they would not contemplate swallowing it whole before Daqing had fallen into decline — unless they had good reason to believe Daqing’s national strength would collapse, and collapse precipitously.
But the decline of a nation is never sudden. Historically, it took multiple generations of misrule to exhaust a dynasty. Daqing, though no longer at its peak, was still far beyond the reach of a minor power like Yan Country.
Then where would the problem lie?
The Kingdom of Chaoli to the east? The nomadic peoples to the north? Or could it be — within the country itself?
Hua Zhi’s mind flickered briefly over those troublesome imperial princes. No — surely not. However much they schemed and jostled against each other, they still needed the country to exist, and to bear the name of Gu.
Where did Yan Country’s confidence come from?
Hua Zhi felt that she was overthinking — these matters were truly none of her concern. Yet ever since Lu Xiansheng had failed to return on time, unease had shadowed her like a second skin.
She feared war too deeply, and always worried that what one hoped would never happen was precisely what was most likely to come.
She folded the maps layer by layer, laid them gently on the table, and lifted her head. Her expression was clear and composed, betraying not the slightest trace of the hidden anxiety within.
In every era, behind a peaceful surface, there were always those who bore unspeakable suffering and hardship with bloodied hands and silent endurance. With people like Lu Xiansheng in the world, with soldiers guarding the borders, with ministers devoted heart and soul to the country — the sky above her head would not fall.
“Hua Zhi?”
Hua Zhi smiled at her. “If that child brings trouble, Hua Family cannot keep him. Hua Family cannot afford to provoke anyone right now.”
“Don’t worry — small troubles I can handle; big troubles are Yanxi’s to carry. Besides, I want to know whose family this child belongs to.” Shao Yao gave a cold smile. “If he was taken captive by someone else, I’ll consider it a good deed done and let it go. But if his own family reduced him to this state…”
Then even Heaven itself could not look the other way — and having come to know of it, she would act as Heaven’s hand.
A light knock came at the door. “Miss, someone has come to see Miss Shao Yao.”
“They came quickly.” Shao Yao started toward the door, but Hua Zhi quickly caught her arm. “Lu Xiansheng said you cannot go out.”
“I won’t go — I’ll have Wang Rong relay my message.”
Only then did Hua Zhi release her. She walked to the doorway and watched as Shao Yao reached the courtyard gate and was immediately stopped by Wang Rong.
Shao Yao glanced back at Hua Zhi, then lowered her voice. “Go and tell the visitor: if I do not go, their master may still live until the King of Hell summons him in his natural time; if I do go, he will not see tomorrow’s sunrise. Not a single word fewer. If after hearing this they come to invite me again — then I will go.”
“Shao Yao…”
Shao Yao smiled. “They’re rushing toward death themselves — what is wrong with me seeing them off? Go quickly. And if Wu Bi comes, come tell me at once.”
Wang Rong went helplessly to carry out the errand. Shao Yao skipped and hopped back to Hua Zhi’s side. “Hua Zhi, I’m hungry.”
“Go find Fu Dong. I can’t conjure food out of thin air.”
“As you command.”
Hua Zhi gradually let her smile fade. She was not entirely unaware of Shao Yao’s deflections and evasions — it was precisely because she could see them that she did not press. Sorrows that could be spoken aloud were not true sorrows. Only the grief that truly tore the heart apart — that could not be touched, could not be approached, could not be voiced — was the kind people would rather leave to fester and rot within than speak a single word of.
Such a past as that, she could only hope Shao Yao would never have to remember for the rest of her life.
Her gaze fell to the maps spread across the table and floor. Hua Zhi could not help thinking of Lu Xiansheng, from whom no word had come. She did not know what had befallen him that he could not return. She could only pray that he was safe.