Cheng Jiao-niang stepped out the door and casually pulled it shut behind her.
“He can’t go home for now,” she said.
As soon as these words left her mouth, everyone’s heart sank.
So it really was impossible…
General Liu’s shoulders slumped—this feeling was all too familiar.
“…It’s hopeless, take him away…”
“…Don’t cut off my arm, don’t cut off my arm…”
“…Let me die, just let me die…”
Cries, shouts, and wails filled his ears—chaotic and overwhelming. General Liu’s body trembled uncontrollably.
Someone grabbed his hand.
“Have mercy, spare a bite of food…”
General Liu instinctively stepped back, staring at the crowd that had appeared before him—maimed men with missing limbs, young and old alike, all with blank expressions, dressed in rags, holding out clay bowls.
The severely ill simply died, and those wounded who survived mostly became beggars, waiting quietly for death.
That’s fate.
That’s what the imperial doctor under the Hanlin official had said.
Someone reached out and pushed him.
“Move aside,” said Zhou Liu-lang.
General Liu came back to his senses and saw the lady walking toward him, lifting her foot to step forward.
“Ban Qin, take care of him and brew the medicine on the table to feed him,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, walking straight to the other side. “I need to rest for a while.”
Every time she finished treating a patient, she would be extremely tired. At this moment, the main hall was occupied by Li Dashao, so she could only go to the study. The maid quickly led the way.
Ah-Song sobbed and tried to go into the room.
“Nobody else is allowed to enter,” Cheng Jiao-niang called back sharply.
Xu Maoxiu reached out and grabbed Ah-Song’s hand, which she had already placed on the door, pulling her back.
General Liu snorted.
“Isn’t it just dealing with a superficial injury? Why is no one allowed to come in?” he said.
Zhou Liu-lang glanced at him.
“Liu Kui, you should leave now,” he said.
General Liu snorted again and turned to leave.
“You can’t go in freely yet because the hand has just been reattached. For these three days, it must not be exposed to the wind. The opening and closing of the door and people moving around are all detrimental,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
After saying this, she turned her head and continued walking. The maid had already opened the door to the study, and the two of them stepped inside, with the door closing behind them.
The corridor fell silent, and everyone stood frozen, slightly dazed.
The hand was reattached…
That phrase echoed repeatedly in their ears.
“Where is Liu Kui?”
A commanding officer walked into the camp, shouting.
Two soldiers ran over and exchanged a hesitant glance.
“General Liu has something at home, so he didn’t come,” they whispered.
Before they could finish speaking, the officer spat.
“He has a damn family! He has some damn business! Tell me, is he off messing around in that brothel again?” he shouted.
The two soldiers looked fearful.
“It’s not a brothel, it’s… it’s to watch a lady treat an injury,” they hurriedly explained.
The officer grew even more furious.
“Don’t bullshit me! Go tell him if he doesn’t want to patrol the streets anymore, I’ll have him guard the city gate!” he shouted, turning and striding away.
As soon as the officer left, the other soldiers gathered around.
“Yeah, it’s been three days already, why hasn’t the general come back yet?”
“Do you think that divine doctor can really reattach the hand?”
“…Why don’t we take this chance to go see for ourselves…”
Their discussions soon caught the attention of more people, who began asking questions. When they heard about the hand being reattached, an uproar broke out.
“That’s a lie, how could that be possible?”
It did seem a bit impossible.
“But that person is the divine doctor who can bring people back from the dead. If she can save a life, reattaching a hand shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
“Right, right, I heard a story before. In He-zhou, a woman’s chin was severely injured, and a doctor took someone else’s chin and attached it to her. She lived just fine…”
“Really? That’s incredible!”
“Enough with the noise, let’s go see for ourselves. The person is right here in the city.”
With these words, a group of people surged forward, following the soldier who had witnessed it that night as they made their way toward Yudai Bridge.
At this moment, in front of the house by Yudai Bridge, Zhou Liu-lang dismounted and entered the gate. First, he saw General Liu in the gatehouse, and then Ah-Song in the corridor. The two of them, as usual, stood motionless, staring fixedly at the closed door.
A maid passed by quickly, holding a tray.
“Miss, Young Master, the meal is ready,” she said, her tone as light and brisk as her steps.
The door to the study was wide open, revealing a man and lady sitting opposite each other.
“…I inquired along the way, but there are no clues. Everything is peaceful, and there is no sign of anyone causing trouble,” Xu Maoxiu said.
“It doesn’t matter if there are clues or not,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. After the maid helped her wipe her hands, she picked up her chopsticks. “Brother, please.”
Xu Maoxiu nodded and picked up his chopsticks.
The maid looked up and saw Zhou Liu-lang in the courtyard.
“Young Master Zhou has arrived,” she whispered.
Cheng Jiao-niang and Xu Maoxiu both looked over.
“Actually, you don’t need to come every day,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
I’m not like you, small-minded. Since you came to ask for help, I will do what I can.
Zhou Liu-lang snorted, keeping a stern face and ignoring her, then went straight to sit in the corridor.
The door was pulled open, and General Liu and Ah-Song both moved nimbly, looking toward Ban Qin.
“Miss,” she called out with some joy, “He’s awake, he’s awake.”
Ah-Song’s throat tightened with emotion, and she moved a few steps forward, staring at the door but not daring to rush in.
“Now that he’s awake, he can go home,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, not stopping her eating.
Ban Qin responded and turned to see the weary Ah-Song in front of her. She hesitated for a moment.
“Miss, can Sister Ah-song go in and see him now?” she asked.
“She can,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied.
At the sound of this, Ah-Song let out a sob and rushed toward the door. Her foot injury had been bandaged by Ban Qin and the maid, but whether it was because of psychological reasons or the fact that she had barely eaten or drunk anything, she couldn’t walk and could only crawl forward.
Ban Qin quickly reached out to support her, but Ah-Song had already scrambled into the room, and the sound of wailing filled the air.
Since the incident, Ah-Song finally allowed herself to cry.
“You can go and see him too,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, looking at the maid beside her.
The maid giggled and, sure enough, lifted her skirt and hurried off.
Behind the screen, Ah-Song was crying heavily as she held Li Dashao’s right hand.
“It’s here. It’s here,” she mumbled.
Li Dashao’s facial wounds had healed a lot, and he could now open his eyes, but tears were still flowing nonstop.
“It’s here. It’s here,” he also sobbed.
“Yes, it’s here,” Ban Qin said through her own tears. “It’s all thanks to you, Ah-Song, for holding onto it. Otherwise, if we had to go back to search or bury it, it would have been too late.”
Ah-Song cried even harder, nearly fainting as she collapsed to the ground, clutching Li Dashao’s right hand, which was wrapped in thick white cloth.
“Can it move?”
A trembling male voice asked.
Sewing the hand back on isn’t anything special, the key is whether it can function like before.
“Not yet,” Ban Qin said. “You’ll have to wait another ten days to half a month.”
“Will it be the same as before?” General Liu asked, his breath quickening.
Ban Qin hesitated for a moment.
“That, I don’t know,” she replied. She then kneeled down, extending her hand to point at Li Dashao’s right hand. “Look, it seems just like before, still warm, with color in it, just a bit swollen.”
As she spoke, she gently pressed on Li Dashao’s right hand.
General Liu’s heart stopped for a moment.
He instinctively reached out his hand, and despite being gently scolded by Ban Qin and the maid, he still lightly touched it.
It was warm! It was soft!
Not cold and stiff, pale and lifeless like a severed limb!
It was alive! It was nourished by circulating blood! It was really reattached!
“Out, out!”
The two maids angrily shoved him out.
Under normal circumstances, even two big men wouldn’t be able to push him.
But at this moment, General Liu stood dazed, letting them push him out, before suddenly bursting into a loud laugh.
Zhou Liu-lang frowned and glared at him, but before he could speak, General Liu let out a loud cry and turned to run out.
“It’s there. It’s there.”
The shouts gradually faded into the distance.
“Scared silly, huh? Truly unworldly!” Jin Ge’er said, sneering.
This kind of thing was indeed shocking.
Several people in the courtyard silently thought to themselves, no wonder this soldier was acting so crazy.
Xu Maoxiu also went into the room to check on Li Dashao. Although he had personally experienced the miraculous act of bringing someone back to life, seeing such a thing still left him in awe.
Jin Ge’er quickly ran out and rented a carriage.
Li Dashao was helped up and walked toward the carriage with his arm in a sling, while Ah-Song, whose legs were weak, was assisted by the maid and Ban Qin before she could move.
“I’ll come see you in three days,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
Li Dashao and his wife bent over in the carriage, choking on their sobs, unable to speak.
“Then we’ll leave now,” Xu Maoxiu said, getting into the carriage. “After taking him home, we will come back again.”
This time it was Li Dashao who was attacked, but next time, who knew who it would be? They had to be extra cautious from now on.
“I’m fine for now,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, glancing at Zhou Liu-lang.
Zhou Liu-lang, who had been standing with his hands behind his back in the corridor, stiffened. His spine seemed to burn with a sudden heat.
Because he was here, everything was fine…
Zhou Liu-lang snorted through his nose, stiffly turning his head, though his hands, still behind his back, instinctively rubbed together.
“Did you get a good look at his hand?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked again.
Zhou Liu-lang turned his gaze away.
“What’s there to see?” he said, with a hint of indifference.
“Come, take a look.” Cheng Jiao-niang smiled at him and raised her hand to gesture.
Under the sunlight, the girl’s smile immediately shone brightly. Her usually stiff face and eyes softened and became more lively.
Although her voice still sounded flat, paired with the smile and gesture, she appeared somewhat playful.
Zhou Liu-lang’s face suddenly turned red, and he turned his gaze away, but still stepped forward as instructed.
Hearing this, Li Dashao in the carriage had already moved to sit outside, exposing his hand in front of him.
Zhou Liu-lang took a quick glance from a few steps away.
“What do you think?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked.
Like a student eager for approval from the teacher, Zhou Liu-lang snorted again.
“It’s good,” he muttered.
Cheng Jiao-niang looked at him and smiled faintly once more.
“Then, how do you feel?” she asked.
Hadn’t he already said it? He knew she was very skilled, very good!
Zhou Liu-lang furrowed his brows, looking at Cheng Jiao-niang.
“I’ve reattached the severed hand,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, looking at him, then emphasizing again, “Severed hand.”
If a severed hand can be reattached, naturally, a broken leg can be too.
Zhou Liu-lang’s mind exploded with a roar, as if a fire suddenly ignited in his feet and rushed straight to the top of his head, suffocating him for a moment.
Bastard! Bastard!
“Cheng Jiao-niang! You’ve gone too far!” he shouted in a hoarse voice, clenching his hands in front of him, the bones in his body creaking with the strain.
