A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

The reputation of the renowned physician from the east of the city had spread throughout the entire city. Those seeking his medical expertise, consultations, and connections were even more numerous than before. The stack of visiting cards was piled higher than ever. Gentry and officials wanted to invite him to their residences for discussions, merchants sought to establish partnerships with him, and even several local officials used various pretexts to curry favor. Lu Yan carefully considered the situation for him, meeting those who needed to be met, returning those who needed to be returned, and keeping a respectful distance from those connected to the prefectural magistrate. She maintained a polite distance, ensuring no one could find fault with him. This network of connections from all over the city was gradually converging on this small courtyard in the east of the city.

But on this day, an unusual guest arrived.

The man was in his early thirties, tall and straight, dressed in ordinary blue cloth clothes, but his posture and eyes held a chilling aura that ordinary people lacked. Liu Ye glanced at him at the door and quietly retreated to inform Yang Hu: "He's a soldier, no doubt about it. The way he walks, the way he stares at people, just like a soldier."

The man entered the room without beating around the bushes. He took out a card from his pocket and presented it with both hands: "Dr. Yang, I have long admired your reputation as a divine physician. My surname is Zhou. I have come to invite Dr. Yang on orders from above."

Yang Hu took the letter. The letter was in the military format, with a small seal at the bottom, but it was blurry and unclear which battalion or place it belonged to.

"May I ask who your esteemed guest is, and who you would like to see?" Yang Hu asked calmly.

"A general in the army has fallen seriously ill. He has consulted doctors in the city and the camp, but to no avail." The man surnamed Zhou spoke with perfect discretion, "The higher-ups have heard that Doctor Yang's medical skills are divine, even curing strange diseases like cervical spondylosis and sudden deafness, so they want to invite Doctor Yang to give it a try. The doctor will certainly not be shortchanged in his consultation fee."

"Since you know the illnesses I've treated, you must also know that I treat the ailments of ordinary people in the city," Yang Hu said, handing over tea in a neither too loud nor too soft tone. "The military has strict rules, and it would be quite inconvenient for a doctor from out of town to enter here rashly. May I ask which battalion you command, sir?"

The man surnamed Zhou picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled without answering: "When we get there, Doctor Yang will naturally know."

This airtight reply only deepened Yang Hu's suspicions.

In the inner room of the main hall, a bamboo curtain hung halfway down. Qin Ying, who had been inside smearing dust and pretending to be a medicine boy assisting someone, paused mid-air upon hearing a military accent outside. The hand holding the medicine grinder froze. It was an accent she knew all too well; it belonged to a border soldier. She didn't go out, but through the curtain, she memorized the figure of the man surnamed Zhou and the format of the military warrant.

Yang Hu, holding the tea, did not immediately agree.

The soldier who came was the very person he had been longing to get close to these past few days. But once he stepped through that door, it would be a den of dragons and tigers. That man surnamed Zhou remembered the several serious illnesses he had treated very clearly. Was he truly prepared, or was it a hidden hand lurking in the shadows, using this as an excuse to pull him under his nose and examine him closely? It was not clear for the time being.

"Generals in the army are of noble birth, while I am but a traveling doctor in the city. I am afraid I cannot bear such a responsibility," Yang Hu said slowly, neither accepting nor refusing. "Please allow me to think about it, and I will give you an answer in a few days."

The man surnamed Zhou didn't press the matter, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said, "Of course, Doctor Yang, please take your time to think it over. However, this general's illness cannot be delayed for too long." With that, he took his leave.

As soon as the man left, Liu Ye immediately bolted the door: "Young master, this man's background is suspicious. When he was peeking through the door, his eyes were constantly scanning the courtyard, unlike those ordinary people seeking medical treatment."

Yang Hu remained silent, turning the military notice over and over in his hands. The paper and format were military paper, but the vague signature and the omission of the general's name hinted at something strange. Ordinary people wouldn't be so secretive when seeking medical help.

Nighttime, in the backyard. The family gathered together again.

"This step was inevitable sooner or later." Yang Hu placed the invitation on the table, his expression grave. "The military camp is where that hand is most deeply entrenched. If we want to find out the line of treason, if we want to seek justice for the Qin family and for those brothers who died unjustly on the border, we can't bypass that military camp. But once we enter this gate, the lives and fortunes of everyone in this courtyard will be staked."

Qin Ying sat by the window. Upon hearing the words "military camp," her fingers gripping the knife tightened involuntarily. Those were the soldiers she had led, the passes she had guarded, yet now she was a dead woman who could not show her face. She remained silent for a long while before lowering her voice and saying, "That guy surnamed Zhou, he looks unfamiliar to me, not like someone from the Western Camp. But the moment he opened his mouth, he mentioned 'the Dragon-Wrapped Waist' and 'the Deaf-Ring,' knowing your background so clearly... The person above him is definitely not simple."

As she spoke, a faint chill flickered in her eyes. Years ago, when she was ordered to patrol the border, she was ambushed and wounded, barely escaping death. Who leaked the itinerary and who delivered the message during that ambush remains a mystery. And that traitor, that hand that leaked military rations in the western camp and passed military intelligence to the barbarians beyond the pass, is likely connected to her ambush and the disaster that befell her. Now, a message has been sent from the army out of the blue. Is it a coincidence, or has that hand finally become unable to restrain itself and decided to probe their situation?

"What does sister-in-law think?" Yang Hu asked Lu Yan.

Lu Yan pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "Going is dangerous; but hiding all the time may not be safe either. Since they have already come to our door, they must have already figured out our strength. If we keep shrinking back, we will only reveal our weakness. It would be better to go with the flow and use this as an excuse to go in and test the waters of that military camp. However... before we go in, every step we take must be carefully planned. And Miss Qin's identity must not be revealed in the slightest."

Yang Hu nodded slowly. Lu Yan's words were exactly what he wanted to hear. In this courtyard, no one was more reliable than her when it came to judging people and planning. With her behind him weighing the importance of everything in the courtyard, he felt more at ease acting in front of him.

Yang Hu tapped the military warrant lightly with his fingertips. He recalled the indistinct seal, the old story of the grain carts turning into the western alley and unloading at those unfamiliar men, and the connection between Squad Leader Zhao and the Western Camp, and the area beyond the Great Wall. All these things, these scattered threads that seemed to be connecting, now seemed to be converging, albeit faintly, towards that heavily guarded military camp, towards that reclusive general.

"Investigating a case is just like treating an illness," he said slowly. "The deeper the root of the problem lies, the more you need to follow the path and probe inch by inch. You can't rush it, and you can't avoid it either."

The dim light illuminated the faces of everyone in the room, each lost in their own thoughts. The door leading to the military camp, to the deepest truth, was now truly, unmistakably, pushed open a crack before them. Behind that door, was it the general waiting for them to heal him, or a trap with its mouth agape, waiting for them to walk right into it? No one could tell.

Yang Hu stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the deep night outside the courtyard. That military camp was entrenched to the north of this border town, like a lurking behemoth, having devoured countless provisions and weapons, and gnawed away at the lives of countless soldiers—no one could say for sure. And he, sooner or later, would walk into the belly of that behemoth.

Whether they choose to get involved in this mess or not seems to be out of their hands.