(Note: Firehouse Camp = Firehead Camp)

The few fire soldiers were startled, quickly followed by wild joy. “Master Li!”

Doctor Han widened his eyes, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

He really brought someone back to life?

He hurriedly pushed through the surrounding fire soldiers and squeezed in to check Chef Li’s pulse.

Though the heartbeat was faint, it was definitely there.

Life and death were at stake; even though Doctor Han was shocked, this was not the time for detailed inquiries.

He quickly called to the fire soldiers, “Quickly, quickly, carry him inside!”

The soldiers carried Chef Li into the military tent, and Doctor Han immediately began to apply needles to several major acupuncture points on his body.

After a few needles, there was a noticeable rise and fall in Chef Li’s chest.

Doctor Han wiped the sweat from his forehead. “This is truly snatching a person from the hands of the King of Hell!”

One of the large soldiers asked, “How is Master Li?”

Doctor Han replied, “This old fellow is lucky; he won’t die.”

Only then did the fire soldiers breathe a sigh of relief, and the youngest one leaned against the bedside and began to cry, overwhelmed with joy.

Hearing the doctor’s words, Jiang Yanyi finally relaxed her anxieties.

Doctor Han wrote out a prescription and had a soldier at the entrance hurry to prepare the medicine.

When he looked at Jiang Yanyi again, there was less disdain in his eyes and more curiosity. “Where did this girl learn such a life-saving method?”

Doctor Han was confident in his ability to check pulses.

He knew he couldn’t have misread; Chef Li had indeed been revived by the fire soldiers.

Not knowing how to explain the principles of CPR to a group of ancient people, Jiang Yanyi improvised, saying, “In the past, a boy from my neighbor drowned. When he was rescued, he had stopped breathing, and a passing traveling doctor saved him this way. When I saw Chef Li was being choked, I thought I’d give it a try.”

Doctor Han didn’t doubt her words; in this vast world, there might be a few wandering experts in traditional medicine who traveled far and wide to help others.

Because of this incident, his impression of Jiang Yanyi changed significantly.

In life, many things were beyond one’s control.

This girl spoke and acted with great discretion, unlike those who wallowed in their own muck, allowing themselves to rot and stink.

After the acupuncture, Chef Li was starting to recover.

His throat had been injured and his vocal cords damaged; when he opened his mouth, it felt as if a rasp was grinding against his throat. “Where am I?”

The nearby soldier hurriedly replied, “Master Li, we’re with the military doctor here.”

The tent was closed, blocking the sunlight from outside.

Chef Li recalled that he had just finished breakfast when he met with Liu Cheng to talk.

This morning, someone from the General’s office had come to say they were going to improve the food in the army so that ordinary soldiers could also eat fine rice and noodles.

They would have to get busy for lunch.

Enduring the dull pain in his throat, he asked, “What time is it?”

“Just reached the hour of the snake.”

Upon hearing this, Chef Li struggled to sit up. “We can’t miss mealtime for the army; I have to go back…”

The Firehouse Camp soldiers hurriedly held him down, “Master Li, you just snatched a life from the gates of hell; you need to rest. There are other masters in the kitchen!”

“They can’t manage… The Firehouse crew has always been under my care; we’ve never missed a meal time even during marching or fighting. We can’t be late todays…”

Doctor Han was grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle, and he hated those who didn’t listen to medical advice.

Hearing them shout, he snapped, “Let him go! If he wants to die, let him go meet the King of Hell and don’t waste my medicine!”

The Firehouse soldiers showed expressions of anger at his harsh words.

Jiang Yanyi quickly stepped forward and said, “Master Li, I will go back to help in the kitchen. You should focus on recovering from your injuries.”

This morning, Chef Li hadn’t seen Jiang Yanyi and was worried that something had happened to her.

Now, seeing the slap mark on her face and recalling her status as a camp prostitute, his years of experience made him realize that Jiang Yanyi might have been bullied.

In front of so many people, he didn’t want to ask directly, but feeling a bit of pity for the lonely girl, he slowly nodded: “You go ahead. If anything is missing from the kitchen, just tell Old Zhao.”

Jiang Yanyi responded and handed her cloak to Doctor Han, wanting him to pass it on to Feng Shuo.

Hearing her refer to the general as “Military Advisor” puzzled Doctor Han, but fearing that this was something Feng Shuo intended to keep from her, he didn’t dare to ask further.

Instead, he declined: “I don’t know when the Military Advisor will come by, so you might as well keep it yourself.”

He didn’t know what kind of relationship Jiang Yanyi had with the Great general, but given Feng Shuo’s notorious reputation, he didn’t have the courage to return the cloak for her.

At that moment, Qiu Kui rushed back in, panting, and quickly handed a money pouch to Doctor Han: “Doctor, I brought the money. Please sell me a bottle of medicinal oil.”

It turned out that Qiu Kui had gone out to fetch the oil, only to be told that she needed to bring money.

Her own funds weren’t enough, so she had to run back to the camp in the Poplar Forest to get more.

Once Doctor Han learned it was for Jiang Yanyi, he generously decided not to take her money and gifted them a bottle instead.

Chef Li urged them to hurry back to the Firehouse Camp to get busy, leaving only the youngest soldier to watch over the area.

Since Doctor Han wouldn’t help return the cloak, Jiang Yanyi decided she would have to go herself when she had the chance.

She felt that carrying the cloak back to the Firehead(Firehouse) Camp would attract too much attention.

If word got to the Military Advisor, he might think she was trying to rely on him because of the cloak!

Having already lost her dignity once, Jiang Yanyi didn’t want to experience that kind of embarrassment again.

She found a piece of square cloth and wrapped the cloak up.

Qiu Kui nodded in agreement: “Wrap it up to prevent it from being stolen.”

Jiang Yanyi: “…”

Thank you, but that wasn’t her original intention.

As they were heading back, they passed by the training ground and heard a woman’s heart-wrenching cries.

A circle of soldiers had gathered outside, watching the spectacle.

Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui, being women, didn’t dare approach.

A soldier from the Firehead Camp ran over to take a look and casually chatted with a few nearby soldiers.

When he came back, he looked shocked: “It’s Chunxiang who is being punished. She had the audacity to write a fake recipe and claim the fifty taels of silver that the general had awarded to Chef Li, fearing her deception would be uncovered. She conspired with Liu Cheng to harm you! No wonder someone came early this morning to arrest Liu Cheng!”

When the Soldiers from the Firehead Camp went to capture Liu Cheng, they discovered that Chef Li had been choked unconscious by Liu Cheng.

Before this, they had no idea what crime Liu Cheng had committed, and now everything was clear.

The soldiers from the Firehead Camp were all somewhat astounded.

Liu Cheng had always appeared honest and simple-minded; who knew he could be so malicious?

Jiang Yanyi was equally shocked.

She hadn’t anticipated that, after her encounter last night, Chunxiang and Liu Cheng had been stirring trouble behind the scenes.

From a distance, she looked toward the training ground, where Chunxiang was being restrained on a torture rack, her clothes stained red with blood.

The two soldiers administering the punishment showed no signs of leniency; each strike landed hard on Chunxiang’s body, causing blood to spatter.

Her screams transformed from sharp shrieks to hoarse and powerless cries.

“I heard she was punished with a full hundred military lashes. At this rate, she’ll be left crippled if not dead.”

“Better dead; a woman’s heart is the most venomous!”

“I wonder if that dog Liu Cheng has been caught. When he’s punished, I’ll definitely go spit at him! What a piece of work!”

Listening to the soldiers’ grievances, Jiang Yanyi didn’t feel particularly angry; she only hoped that these two evildoers would get the retribution they deserved.

However, she couldn’t help but wonder: Did that general, like the Military Advisor, enjoy collecting recipes for his favorite dishes?