Ning Chen studied Zisu. “How did you know I’d been wounded?”
Zisu’s face was full of admiration. “Ning the Silver Coat led the whole army out of the city to run down the enemy, right at the front of his men—how could he possibly come through unhurt?”
“Besides, I know nearly every doctor in Mangzhou. Ning the Silver Coat sent for one to come to the residence yesterday—one question and I had my answer.”
Ning Chen let out a flat little “Oh.”
“My wound is nothing. You can see yourself out, Miss Zisu.”
“Zhang Youcai—show her out!”
“Yes, sir!” Zhang Youcai was all admiration. A doctor this lovely, all but begging to treat General Ning—and General Ning isn’t moved in the slightest?
He stepped up to her. “Miss Zisu, this way, please.”
Zisu looked at Ning Chen, the very picture of injured feelings.
“A girl slips away from her master and sneaks all the way out here, and this is how Ning the Silver Coat treats her?”
Ning Chen said mildly, “Thank you for the kind thought, Miss Zisu, but my wound truly is nothing. There’s no need to trouble yourself.”
This woman, showing up out of nowhere? Claiming some tie to Lin Wen… who the hell knows if it’s even true?
As for her saying she admired him and all the rest of it, Ning Chen didn’t believe a word.
“Ning the Silver Coat doesn’t believe me, does he?”
“I really did come here because of your name—I simply admire you, Young Master Ning. I know Pan the Gold Coat; if you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”
Ning Chen was slightly taken aback. “You know Pan the Gold Coat?”
Zisu lifted her sharp little chin, pleased with herself. “Of course! Back in the capital, I even treated his wounds once.”
Just then, footsteps sounded.
Ning Chen turned to look. Yuan Long, Lei An, Pan Yucheng and the rest had all come back.
The moment they came in and saw Zisu, every last one of them stared.
Feng Qizheng most of all—he was all but drooling.
Feng Qizheng sidled up to Ning Chen and waggled his eyebrows. “Ning Chen, you dog… where’d you dig up a woman this gorgeous?”
Ning Chen was about to answer when Zisu, light on her feet and skirts flying, crossed to Pan Yucheng with a bright, charming smile. “Does Pan the Gold Coat still remember me?”
Puzzlement crossed Pan Yucheng’s face as he looked her over.
Then, as if something had come back to him, he ventured, “You’re… Miss Zisu?”
Zisu beamed. “I didn’t think Pan the Gold Coat would still remember me.”
Pan Yucheng smiled. “It’s been a few years, Miss Zisu, and you’ve changed so much—Pan here didn’t know you at first. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“What brings Miss Zisu here?”
Zisu said with a smile, “I’ve been roaming the land with my master, and we happened to reach Mangzhou. We’d meant to move on, but with the gates sealed these past days we couldn’t get out, so we stayed.”
“I heard Ning the Silver Coat had been wounded, and I came here just to treat him—and he won’t have it. He wants to send me away.”
As she spoke she turned to Ning Chen and lifted that sharp little chin. “Now do you believe me?”
Ning Chen gave her a glance, then said to Pan Yucheng, “A word aside.”
The two of them stepped outside.
“Old Pan, you know her?”
Pan Yucheng nodded. “She’s the star pupil of the Physician Immortal, Shang Lu, and Master Director Lin Wen of the Imperial Physicians’ Bureau is her uncle in the craft—her master’s junior.”
“I first knew her when she was only thirteen. That year I was away on a case, and on the road back to the capital I was ambushed and badly hurt—luckily I fell in with the Physician Immortal and Miss Zisu.”
“The girl’s warm-hearted—lovely and kind—and a capable physician besides. She looked after me the whole way, and by the time we reached the capital I was very nearly healed.”
“Though I only found out later that master and pupil were headed up to the capital to call on the Master Director.”
Ning Chen frowned slightly. “You’re sure there’s nothing off about her?”
Pan Yucheng asked, “Did she tell you she admires you—that she came all this way just to treat your wounds?”
Ning Chen was startled. “How did you know?”
Pan Yucheng opened his mouth, and before a single word came out, he laughed.
Ning Chen gave him a strange look.
Pan Yucheng said, fighting down a laugh, “That really is just how she is. The girl worships heroes more than anything.”
“You know who she used to worship most?”
Ning Chen shook his head.
Pan Yucheng said, “Geng the Purple Coat. Swore up and down she had to treat Geng the Purple Coat’s wounds at least once… The whole time she was in the capital, she came to the Inspectorate every single day to ask whether Geng the Purple Coat had been hurt yet.”
Ning Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Pan Yucheng went on, laughing, “When she left, I even went to see her off—and Miss Zisu was downcast, so disappointed, because Geng the Purple Coat never once got hurt.”
“So it’s no surprise at all that she heard you’d been wounded and came running to treat you.”
Ning Chen smiled. “By your account, then, she’s worth trusting?”
Pan Yucheng said, “She saved my life—I trust her. Whether you do is up to you.”
Ning Chen gave a small nod.
The two of them went back to the main hall.
Zisu looked at Ning Chen, her face full of hope. “Now may I treat your wound?”
“Ah… my wound’s on my leg. It’d be awkward to have you treat it, Miss Zisu—I’ll find another doctor later on.”
Zisu wouldn’t hear of it. “Why find another doctor? Is any other doctor as good as I am?”
Feng Qizheng snickered. “You may not find another doctor, Ning Chen. There aren’t enough army physicians—most of the doctors in the city have been pressed into service in a hurry and sent off to the camps to tend the soldiers.”
Ning Chen looked to Yuan Long.
Yuan Long nodded. “That’s exactly it.”
Zisu was thoroughly pleased with herself. “Now you don’t have any reason to refuse, do you?”
Ning Chen, at a loss: “But the wound’s on my leg. Putting medicine on it means dropping my pants, and that’s…”
“So that’s it—you’re shy? No hiding illness from the doctor—I’m a physician, and even I feel no shame. What are you afraid of?”
Ning Chen gave a wry smile.
“All right. Once I’ve finished up here, I’ll trouble you, then, Miss Zisu.”
“Zhang Youcai—see to Miss Zisu’s tea!”
“Old Pan, the rest of you—come with me!”
Ning Chen and the others moved to the sitting room in the inner court.
“Report.”
Yuan Long said, “The battlefield’s been cleared. This officer made a rough count—twenty-one thousand six hundred–odd prisoners all told.”
Ning Chen was surprised. “Wasn’t it fifteen thousand?”
“There were the wounded too—we brought them all back. Together it comes to over twenty thousand.”
Ning Chen gave a slight nod and motioned for him to go on.
“The Grand Tutor’s army lost twenty thousand-odd men of its own.”
Ning Chen said, “So you’re telling me the Grand Tutor’s losses this time came to almost half?”
Yuan Long said, “More than that. The Grand Tutor’s army was scattered, broken to pieces—the losses should run well past half.”
Ning Chen couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
Lei An cupped his fists. “General Ning, this officer would like to take men out to look for the Grand Tutor’s scattered troops. If we can find them, this officer is confident he can talk them into surrendering.”
Ning Chen nodded again and again. “Granted—see to it at once. If you find them, tell them this: lay down their arms and surrender, and this general will spare them the death penalty.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lei An took his orders and left.
Ning Chen turned to Yuan Long. “And our own losses?”
Yuan Long bent forward. “We lost four hundred–odd men, with more than two thousand wounded.”
Ning Chen frowned. “Why so many?”
Yuan Long: “???”
That counts as a lot?
“When the Grand Tutor stormed the city, he pinned us down under a rain of arrows, and our men took some losses. Then, when we sortied out to cut them down, we took some more.”
Ning Chen sighed. “Pass my order: the army physicians are to do everything they can to save them. If there aren’t enough doctors, bring more in from the city.”
“Yes—this officer accepts the order!”
(End of Chapter 261)