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

We returned to Qingshikou on the seventh day after leaving the city.

When the south gate opened, the city wall was crowded with people. One hundred and seventeen went out, and ninety-one returned, along with forty or so stragglers who had followed them down from the pass, and four stretchers.

Commander Wang walked down the city wall by himself. The cut on his left arm had finally scabbed over; he was still thin, but he could stand. He walked all the way to Yang Hu's horse, looked up at it for a long time, and then took out the bronze talisman.

"Return the item to its rightful owner."

The talisman lay in his palm, the gleam from its edge worn away was now a little darker than it had been seven days ago.

Yang Hu did not answer.

"Captain Chen's injuries will take another two months." Captain Wang handed the tally forward. "During these two months, someone still needs to issue orders in this city."

"That shouldn't be me either."

"Then who should it be?" Captain Wang asked. "Me, or Captain Ma? We've been arguing for two months, and you've recorded everything in that book in the camp."

Captain Ma stood half a step behind him, saying nothing but offering no rebuttal.

Yang Hu eventually accepted the talisman.

That night, Yang Hu sat in the central command tent until dawn. Of the four people carried back on stretchers, Qin Ying's drainage tube would need to be left in for three more days, and the other three would also need to start recovering from scratch. Of the more than nine hundred wounded and sick people already in the camp, new ones had been added in the past seven days.

The military report was sent out that same day.

The military report was written by the clerk of the central army. After it was finished, it was sent to Yang Hu for his review. Yang Hu read it through from beginning to end and only made two changes.

The first instance is where the original text reads, "The physician Yang Hu took charge of the city's defenses, commanding with composure and achieving victory over the enemy." He crossed out the phrase "achieved victory over the enemy" and changed it to "defended the city for forty-five days, and the barbarians collapsed on their own."

The second instance is where the original text reported 2,317 deaths in battle. He left that number behind, started a new line, and added the sentence: "The list of fallen soldiers is attached separately, totaling 3,162, including those who died before the siege or from disease."

The clerk was stunned: "Medical Officer Yang, military reports only report those who died in battle. Those who died from epidemics or those who succumbed to their wounds before the siege are never included in the register."

"This time, I'll enter."

"But this way, the reported number would be nearly a thousand higher. When the higher-ups see it, they'll say that this battle was fought poorly."

"It's ugly, it's ugly." Yang Hu put down his pen. "Three thousand one hundred and sixty-two people, their families are still waiting for a piece of paper. If one name is missing, one less family will receive their pension."

The clerk wanted to say something more, but after glancing at his expression, he finally took the pen and copied it again.

Nineteen days after the military report was sent out, the imperial decree from the capital arrived.

The messenger was a senior official from the Ministry of War, accompanied by two clerks and twenty horsemen as escorts. The imperial decree was announced at the drill ground in the city, and almost everyone in the city who could stand up attended that day.

When the final part of the proclamation was recited, the drill ground fell silent for a moment, and then erupted in cheers.

He was granted the rank of General Yang Hu, the title of Xiaoqiwei, and was also granted the title of Baron.

"General?"

"Isn't he that doctor?"

"How did a doctor become a general...?"

Amidst the cacophony of sounds, there were others: several soldiers whom he had rescued from the door at the crossroads that day, and who had later climbed onto the city wall on their own, were the first to kneel down; followed by the wounded soldiers' camp; and then the entire drill ground.

The official from the Ministry of War, who was announcing the imperial decree, stood on the platform with a very unpleasant expression.

He is forty-six years old this year. He was transferred from the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of War, and it took him twenty-two years to finally reach this position. He came all the way from the capital, and he was also thinking about this matter: a military officer in his early twenties jumped from assistant physician to general in two months. This is unprecedented in the current dynasty.

But what he saw on the day he entered the city overshadowed all those words.

He saw three sections of the city wall collapsed, and several siege ladders with their charred skeletons soaking in the moat. He saw dozens of pots set up in the city, boiling water day and night. He saw hundreds of boiled white cloths drying outside a whole shed for wounded soldiers. He saw lines of varying lengths drawn with charcoal sticks on a wall beside the drill ground.

He asked what it was. The clerk who followed him asked for half a day and then came back and said: It is a record of the epidemic. One line is drawn for each day. If there are many people with stomach upset on a particular day, the line is longer; if there are few people, the line is shorter.

The doctor stood in front of that wall for a long time.

He reached out and compared his hand to the last short line, then looked back at the row of sheds with white cloths hanging out to dry, without saying anything.

After announcing the decree, he invited Yang Hu aside and lowered his voice.

"General Yang, there is something I should not have said."

"Please speak, sir."

"I personally reviewed the records of this military report at the Ministry of War." He paused. "When it was submitted, there were 3,162 names; but by the time it reached the Ministry of War, only 2,317 remained. The other 1,000 were crossed out at some level, I don't know."

Yang Hu's hand slowly clenched.

"There's one more thing," the doctor's voice lowered. "According to the border army's custom, defending an isolated city for forty-five days and defeating 30,000 enemy troops should be reported as a 'great victory.' But what was approved was only 'meritorious defense.' That's two ranks lower."

"Therefore, the rank of knight only goes up to baron."

"So the rank of nobility only goes up to baron." The doctor nodded. "The rank of 'Xiaoqiwei' is a title, not a rank of nobility. It sounds good, but it's actually empty. The only one that truly carries on is this lowest rank of baron."

The wind blew across the training ground, making the flag on the platform flutter loudly.

"Why are you telling me all this, sir?"

The doctor remained silent for a while.

"On my way here, I have seen three passes," he said. "Of the three passes, only the wounded soldiers' camp at Qingshikou had boiled cloths drying outside. I am in charge of the relief and compensation in the Ministry of War, and this is the first time in twenty-two years that I have seen anyone report the names of those who died of plague in the military report."

After saying this, he took a half step back, cupped his hands in a respectful bow again, and adopted his official tone once more.

"General Yang, there is another order."

"Please speak, sir."

"Now that the siege of Qingshikou has been lifted, the frontier camp of the border army in the north is currently without a leader. The Ministry of War's opinion is that since the general has already been awarded a rank, there is no need for him to remain in this city."

Yang Hu raised his head.

"When do we set off?"

"Within three days."

That night, Yang Hu went to see Commandant Chen.

Captain Chen's injuries had healed by about 70-80%, and he could sit up with the help of a pillow. Upon hearing that he was leaving, the city's commander only said one sentence:

"Give me back the bronze talisman."

Yang Hu placed the talisman beside his bed.

Captain Chen held the talisman and rubbed it for a long time.

"General Yang," he suddenly spoke, "I can't remember how many people you've saved in this city. But I do remember one thing clearly. You've never written a single word about yourself in the military reports."

He put the talisman under his pillow.

"The world is not lacking in generals who can win battles," he said. "What it lacks are generals who, after the battle, are still willing to count the names one by one."

He didn't ask again which floor those thousand names were crossed out on.

He knew in his heart that asking would be useless. The fact that the doctor in the Ministry of War was willing to say those few words was already a step forward for his own future.

Three days later, Yang Hu led his army north.

There were a total of 270 people accompanying him: 120 military medical personnel, 100 regular soldiers assigned to him by Qing Shi Kou, and more than 50 stragglers who had followed him down from the pass and refused to leave.

Qin Ying sat in the last car. Her leg hadn't fully healed yet, and the drainage tube under her ribs had only been removed two days prior. There were three other people in the car, the three who had survived their ordeal at Sancha'ao.

Su Heng rode beside the carriage. Physician Liu remained at Qing Shi Kou; the more than nine hundred wounded soldiers still needed someone to watch over them.

It was just dawn when we left the city.

There were no horns on the city walls, nor did anyone shout. Yet the streets on both sides were packed with people, stretching from the city center all the way to the north gate. No one spoke, and no one stopped them.

Yang Hu rode his horse all the way to the North Gate and looked back once.

The charcoal wire on the wall was still there. The last one was so short that only a small section remained.