Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

The sun shone brightly as Gongsun Yin stared at Fan Changyu a few steps away, suddenly wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.

He asked again in disbelief, "Who hunted it?"

The cookhouse camp soldiers chuckled and replied, "It was Miss Fan!"

Gongsun Yin looked at the massive bear, then at Fan Changyu's slender arms and legs, clearly struggling to imagine how she could have taken down such a beast.

Previously, when he heard Fan Changyu had descended the mountain, raided the enemy camp, and seized provisions, he assumed she had merely accompanied Xie Wu and others on the risky mission, perhaps offering strategic advice to guide their plundering.

Her pig-slaughtering skills, having been mentally prepared by prior information from Zhao Mu Jiang, and with many cookhouse soldiers holding down the wild boar, only made him think she was different from ordinary women.

But now, being told she had hunted a bear, Gongsun Yin felt his previous understanding waver. He asked, "How did Miss Fan hunt it?"

One soldier who had accompanied Fan Changyu on the morning hunt eagerly jumped in: "We found large predator tracks in the forest, thinking it was a wild boar. Following the trail to find its den, we stumbled upon a bear's lair instead! You've all seen how huge this bear was—it even had a bloodied bird in its jaws when we first saw it. Those savage black eyes stared straight at us, scaring us into a cold sweat!"

The soldier was quite the storyteller, vividly describing the encounter until even the gathered cookhouse troops gasped in fearful suspense, their hearts trembling with tension.

Gongsun Yin subtly rubbed the goosebumps rising on his arms.

The soldier continued, "None of us had ever faced such a beast before! Armed only with ordinary swords and bows, we knew our weapons wouldn't even pierce its hide. We scattered in panic. Seeing us flee, the bear charged in fury. One brother climbed a tree to escape, but the bear's tremendous strength toppled the trunk—thick as a rice bowl—in just two strikes. We all thought that brother was done for, but then Miss Fan untied the rope from her waist, swiftly fashioned a noose, and lassoed the bear's neck!"

The crowd held their breath like strangled chickens.

The soldier mimicked Fan Changyu's movements: "Miss Fan braced one foot against a large tree, yanked the rope with all her might, and—bam!—flipped the bear right onto its back!"

The cookhouse soldiers erupted in astonished gasps.

"How strong must her arms be?" someone newly arrived and skeptical interjected, "Really? Who could have that kind of strength? Especially a woman."

The storyteller snapped, "We who were there saw it with our own eyes! How could it be false?"

Another chimed in, "Miss Fan isn't some ordinary woman! Today I followed her to raid the rebel camp—you should've seen her heft two sacks of salt, each weighing nearly a hundred jin, onto her shoulders! And still have hands free to grab cloaks and even drive off the rebels' goats from the mountain!"Some had witnessed the heroic sight of a small soldier carrying a sack of salt while holding up a whole roasted lamb, unaware that it was Fan Changyu. The gathered soldiers gasped in awe, their voices filled with admiration and astonishment.

A soldier from the Jizhou army who had once transported provisions up the mountain with Fan Changyu said, "Carrying a hundred pounds of salt is nothing! Back when they were building the dam upstream in Jizhou and needed to excavate earth and stones, Miss Fan carried a basket of rocks weighing nearly three hundred pounds all the way from the mountain to the dam site! That night, the news spread like wildfire through our camp. The officer in charge of the excavation even rewarded Miss Fan with a roasted chicken!"

The crowd's gasps grew even louder. Gongsun Yin gripped his fan but remained silent, his expression visibly stunned.

Fan Changyu, unused to the attention, felt awkward. She wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words for the occasion, so she simply stood there, looking honest and unassuming.

The Jizhou soldier, feeling that boasting about Changyu's feats also brought honor to their army, continued, "The battle where we flooded the rebel stronghold in Lucheng might have seemed like a sure victory with the advantage of terrain and timing, but it was perilous! We had tens of thousands stationed upstream at Witch River, building the dam. The slightest misstep could have alerted the rebel scouts, so we had to keep a constant watch, intercepting and killing every scout we found. But on the eve of the battle, the rebels sent a cavalry unit to raid our camp, covering the escape of their scouts! If that news had reached the rebel army, our entire plan to flood them would have been ruined! Three scouts got away, but it was Miss Fan—just a woman—who single-handedly crossed Witch Ridge in the pouring rain and killed all three!"

Such a military feat was no small achievement, no matter where it happened.

The soldiers gathered around the cookhouse camp now regarded Fan Changyu with nothing but reverence.

Changyu, faced with their awestruck gazes, could only nod earnestly and humbly, though inwardly, she was utterly bewildered.

The soldier who had mentioned her bear-hunting exploits was also stunned by her accomplishments. Stumbling over his words, he finished his story: "That black bear—Miss Fan speared it through the heart and lungs with a bamboo pole, then finished it off with the same knife she used to slaughter pigs earlier. It died on the spot."

When Fan Changyu left the cookhouse camp with Gongsun Yin, the once-elegant and refined Gongsun seemed to have aged into a disheveled old man. He walked with his hands behind his back, glancing back at her every few steps as if his entire worldview had been shattered.

After what felt like the hundredth glance, Changyu finally couldn't hold back. "Gongsun, are you alright?"

Gongsun Yin shook his head numbly. "I'm fine."

Changyu frowned, genuinely concerned. "You don't look fine."

Gongsun admitted, "A little."

He stared at her as if she were some kind of monster, utterly baffled. "So, if you can handle all that, why is your husband so worried about you going down the mountain?"

Before hearing about Changyu's exploits, he had understood Xie Zheng's concern.

Now? He didn't get it at all!

Changyu parted her lips. "He—"

Gongsun raised a hand to stop her, clearly still reeling from the shock. "Miss Fan, I think I need some time alone to process this."

Changyu gave an "Oh" and walked away. After a while, she glanced back at Gongsun Yin, now sitting on a low slope, staring blankly into the distance as if questioning his entire existence. Scratching her head in frustration, she sighed.It seemed she had caused quite a bit of trouble for Gongsun?

Fan Changyu strolled back to her temporary lodging. Although she understood the reasoning behind Xie Zheng's earlier lecture, she couldn't help feeling somewhat downcast. At least for now, she didn't want to go see him, so she went to check on Changning instead.

Changning had already woken from her nap. Xie Wu had brought over some portioned roasted lamb chops, and Changning was sitting on a small stool at the entrance of the tent, gnawing on a chop. However, she wasn't paying much attention to her food—her big, grape-like eyes were fixed on Xie Wu as he recounted her elder sister's exploits from earlier that day.

From a distance, Fan Changyu spotted Changning. Since everyone in the camp was wearing military uniforms and Xie Wu had his back to her, she didn't recognize him at first, simply calling out, "Ning Niang."

The moment Changning heard Fan Changyu's voice, her eyes lit up as she turned excitedly toward her. "Sister's back!"

Xie Wu also greeted her with a smile. "Miss Fan."

Fan Changyu nodded. "Ah, it's Brother Xiao Wu. What brings you here?"

She had only just gotten somewhat familiar with Xie Wu and Xie Qi that day but didn't know their surnames, only that one was called Xiao Wu and the other A'Qi—apparently brothers.

Xie Wu explained, "The brothers reheated the lamb and portioned out some chops to bring to you, Miss Fan. If not for you, we wouldn't have had such a treat today."

Fan Changyu thanked him, and Xie Wu excused himself, saying he had other matters to attend to.

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? You look so happy."

Changning couldn't contain her excitement, waving her lamb chop around. "He said you're amazing! You killed a big black bear all by yourself! And you went to the bad guys' place and took their food and roasted lamb!"

She looked up, her bright eyes filled with admiration. "I wish I could tell Bao'er all this! He shivers when he talks about the bad man who locked him up. If he knew, he wouldn't be so scared anymore. Sister will go save him and Aunt Yu, right?"

Fan Changyu was also worried about Yu Qianqian's situation and reassured Changning, "Yes, once we leave the mountains, we'll go rescue them."

Changning happily took another bite of her lamb chop and followed Fan Changyu into the tent, chattering away. "After we save Bao'er and Auntie, they can reopen their restaurant. Sister can build a pigpen and open a pork shop, and Ning Niang will learn how to butcher pigs from you! We'll make lots and lots of money!"

Fan Changyu couldn't help but laugh at the child's innocent dreams, curling her lips. "Sounds good."

Changning counted on her fingers but then frowned in confusion. "But what will Brother-in-law do?"

The innocent question caught Fan Changyu off guard, leaving her momentarily dazed. But Changning had already come up with what she thought was the perfect arrangement and declared cheerfully, "Brother-in-law can raise pigs in the countryside pigpen!"

Outside the tent, Xie Wu, who had returned, suddenly erupted into a fit of violent coughing.

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

Xie Wu, recalling the murderous glare Xie Zheng had given him when he reported that Fan Changyu had returned but hadn't gone to see him, hurriedly said, "Brother Yan is seriously injured and has no one to look after him. When I went to deliver medicine for the Army Doctor earlier, I found out he's been lying there all day—he couldn't even get someone to boil water for him when he wanted a drink..."He couldn't keep making things up and awkwardly stopped mid-sentence.

Fan Changyu thought to herself that Gongsun had just visited the wounded not long ago. But then she reconsidered—after all, Gongsun was an official, while Yan Zheng was just a lowly soldier. How could he dare trouble Gongsun to fetch him tea and water?

Having seen Yan Zheng's injuries herself, she suddenly felt a pang of discomfort. "Thank you, little brother. I'll go over shortly," she said.

Xie Wu then left, visibly uneasy.

Changning also looked at Fan Changyu with wide eyes. "Elder Sister, does Brother-in-law not even have anyone to pour him water? He's so pitiful."

Considering that another fierce battle had taken place that day and the wounded tents would surely be receiving more casualties, Fan Changyu decided it wouldn't be appropriate to bring Changning along. "Stay in the tent and don't wander off. I'll go check on him," she instructed.

Changning nodded obediently. "Ning Niang will be good. Ning Niang won't go anywhere."

Only then did Fan Changyu head to Xie Zheng's tent. Just as Xie Wu had said, the place was eerily quiet—not a single person celebrating the victory, nor any new wounded being brought in.

When she lifted the tent flap and entered, she saw Xie Zheng leaning against the headboard, his face pale, his eyes closed as if in light sleep. The daylight streaming in through the open flap fell upon his lashes, dark as crow feathers, giving him an unexpectedly childlike vulnerability.

Perhaps sensing the light, the moment the flap was lifted, Xie Zheng opened his eyes and looked over. That fleeting trace of childlike fragility vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, sharp, and gloomy gaze. Only when he saw it was Fan Changyu did he pause slightly. After a moment, he lowered his eyes and said, "I thought... you didn't want to see me anymore."

Fan Changyu pressed her lips together and didn't respond. After entering the tent, she went straight to the table and picked up the teapot—it was indeed empty.

She turned on her heel, teapot in hand, about to leave when she suddenly heard a voice from behind: "Wait."