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

The invitation from the military was like a stone weighing on the hearts of everyone in the courtyard.

Yang Hu didn't reply immediately. Before setting off, he needed to thoroughly investigate the situation. He needed to ascertain the background of the man surnamed Zhou, the reclusive general, and the ambiguous military seal—every single detail needed to be clarified before any plan could be devised. Rushing in blindly would be a death sentence.

This investigation was divided into two routes, one overt and one covert.

The one who was clearly in the know was Yang Hu himself. These days, among those who came to him for medical treatment and to make connections were several officials from the prefecture and gentry from the city. Yang Hu was always neither servile nor arrogant in his dealings with others, yet he always maintained a certain level of propriety in his speech. Under the guise of treating patients and having casual conversations at their homes, he subtly inquired about the military situation at the border and the personnel of the western camp.

Most of those people, unaware of the true situation, simply assumed the divine physician was concerned about current affairs and were happy to show off their knowledge. One old clerk in charge of documents in the prefecture, after taking several doses of Yang Hu's medicine to regulate his spleen and stomach, experienced a significant cure for a chronic ailment that had plagued him for half a year. He was very grateful to the divine physician and became quite unguarded in conversation. When Yang Hu examined him again, he casually inquired about the border war and the generals in the army. The old clerk then rambled on, revealing details such as which deputy generals in the camp were at odds with which, and which general was known for his reclusive lifestyle. In a few words, Yang Hu pieced together a general picture: the western camp had indeed been in turmoil lately. Barbarians were raiding the border every few days, and the eastern front had suffered several defeats, resulting in significant casualties. The general leading the troops had been feigning illness and rarely appeared in public for several months, with major camp affairs mostly handled by several deputy generals and a person in charge of confidential documents.

"Pretending to be ill and not showing his face..." Yang Hu weighed these words repeatedly in his mind. Was he really sick, or was he being sidelined by that powerful figure? And who was this person in charge of confidential documents? All of these things seemed strange.

The path was shrouded in darkness, marked by willow leaves. She had a unique face, but possessed keen eyesight and stamina honed in the deep mountains, making her a professional stalker. After the man surnamed Zhou left, she quietly followed him, keeping track of where he stayed in the city.

This investigation uncovered the truth.

The man surnamed Zhou didn't stay in the military camp or go to any post station. Instead, he wandered around and entered an inconspicuous grain store in the west of the city. Liu Ye kept watch in the shadows for a while, noticing unfamiliar men going in and out. The way they unloaded and carried goods was vaguely the same as the suspicious carts and horses that had delivered the letter to Yang's family in the east of the city. She didn't dare to get too close, only following from a distance, memorizing the grain store's facade, the people coming and going, and the times when goods were unloaded. The grain store's signboard was old, and the storefront was deserted, but the carts and horses coming and going were much more frequent than those in ordinary grain stores, giving off an inexplicable strangeness.

"The grain store in the west of the city..." After listening to Liu Ye's words that night, Yang Hu tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.

The threads have come together again. The old story of the grain cart turning into the western alley and unloading to those unfamiliar men, the connection between Squad Leader Zhao and the Western Camp and the barbarians beyond the Great Wall, and now this Zhou guy who delivered the notice from the military camp—these threads, originally scattered in different places, are all vaguely pointing to the same destination.

Qin Ying listened intently, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. Having led troops herself, she knew the ins and outs of the military better than anyone. Someone in charge of confidential documents, capable of mobilizing military vehicles, delivering official documents stamped with the military seal, and secretly colluding with grain merchants outside the city—such a person was no ordinary figure in the army. Without the support of that supposedly ailing general, or someone even higher up, it would be utterly impossible. The further one traced this line upwards, the more astonishing it would likely become.

"It seems that this request from the military may not be for medical treatment," Yang Hu said slowly. "The hand hidden in the shadows has probably been eyeing our courtyard for a long time. It sent this invitation ostensibly to request medical help, but secretly, it wants to bring us under its watchful eye and see us clearly."

"Then we can't rush to agree." Qin Ying sat by the window, her voice low but calm. "Since it has its eye on us, the more we rush in, the more we'll reveal our weakness. This military camp is where it's most deeply entrenched. If we rashly go in now, we'll be putting our lives in its hands. We can't take this step now. We have to pave our escape route and figure out its secrets before we move."

She spoke calmly, but the hand gripping the hilt of her knife tightened subtly. That military camp was where she had spent half her life in the military, shedding blood and risking her life. Now, to disguise herself as an inconspicuous medicine boy and silently infiltrate back under those banners to uncover the traitor among her own people—the feeling was something no one else could understand. But the more she knew this was the case, the clearer she understood that she could not afford to make a mistake, nor could she rush it.

Lu Yan nodded slowly from the side: "Miss Qin is right. We can't accept this invitation immediately, nor can we refuse it outright. If we refuse, we'll be openly confronting that party and putting ourselves in the spotlight. It's better to stall—just say that we've been busy with many patients lately and will discuss it later. We'll neither accept nor refuse, leaving the door slightly ajar, and we can decide for ourselves when to step inside."

"Sister-in-law, what you said is exactly what I wanted to say." Yang Hu nodded and said, "We need to further strengthen our foundation in the city. We need to make our medical reputation even better and expand our network of connections so that all the gentry and common people in the city will remember our kindness. That way, when things really come to that point, we will have a strong backbone, and that hand will be hesitant to act against us."

So they agreed on the following: On the surface, Yang Hu would continue practicing medicine and cultivating relationships with various parties, further enhancing his reputation as the "miracle doctor of the east of the city"; secretly, Liu Ye would continue to monitor the grain store in the west of the city, meticulously investigating the traitorous connection. As for the military summons, they would use the excuse of being "busy with medical work" to delay it. This plan, combining overt and covert measures, was orchestrated by Lu Yan. Although she never left her residence, she had a clear understanding of the city's sentiments and the complex relationships between various parties. With her managing the overall situation for Yang Hu in the backyard, Yang Hu, whether practicing medicine, cultivating relationships, or investigating the hidden network, had a clear understanding of the situation.

After receiving the reply, the man surnamed Zhou didn't press the matter. He simply said, "The general's illness cannot be delayed. I hope the doctor will make a decision soon," and then disappeared again. But everyone could clearly hear the urging in his words.

The warm glow of the lights illuminated the faces of everyone in the room, each with their own thoughts, yet united as one.

The door leading to the military camp, to the deepest truth, still had a crack in it. The behemoth behind that door, entrenched in the north of the city, that had devoured countless lives of soldiers and rations, the invisible and intangible net that shrouded the border, would sooner or later be torn apart by their own hands.

But the time to reveal it hasn't come yet. In this chess game unfolding across the city, several crucial pieces await their moves. And whether the hand lurking in the shadows will be impatient and strike first—no one knows for sure.